The statistics speak for themselves. Al Rajhi has only won one partial victory in twelve attempts (Prologue included) but he has multiplied his appearances on the podium and has always played placed. This Thursday took place the justice of the peace for this 2025 edition with the crossing of the Empty Quarter. Here too, Al Rajhi applied the maxim of “step back to jump better”. Having let his rival Henk Lategan take the lead 24 hours earlier, he took advantage of an ideal starting position and his knowledge of the dunes to propel himself to the front of the stage… and the general classification.
Towards deliverance
This Friday, Al Rajhi will start 6:11 seconds ahead of Lategan. There will only be 61 kilometers of special to cover, without major difficulty. Suffice it to say that, barring a catastrophe, victory cannot escape the smiling Saudi and the men of Jean-Marc Fortin who would thus return to victory after the Sainz-Audi parenthesis in 2024.I knew I could do it, that I could take the lead again, Surit Al Rajhi. I trusted myself and attacked.”
Henk Lategan will not have gone far from the dream. The South African, who withdrew due to injury in 2024, would already take resounding revenge by finishing 2nd. The Toyota driver knows that his fate is no longer in his hands. “We couldn’t do better this Thursday, I tried everything, admits Lategan. I’m not a dune expert but I’m happy to arrive at the finish with the car in one piece. It’s incredible, we had a very good Dakar with ups and downs, but overall I’m happy, there’s still one day of racing left.”
-For 3rd place, barring any surprises, it is Mattias Ekström who will have the last word against Nasser Al-Attiyah. A deserved reward for the Swede and his new Ford Raptor.
The Dakar on LN24: Watch this evening at 10 p.m. exclusively the 52-minute summary of the stage and exclusive interviews
