Yazeed Al Rajhi: “The hardest first week of my career on the Dakar”

Dakar 2025 | Stage 5 | ALULA > HAIL
January 9 ^th 2025 - 15:44 [GMT + 3]

Yazeed Al Rajhi, who finished 5th today behind Henk Lategan, the rally leader at the half-way point, has lost ground on the South African’s Hilux TGR in the general rankings. However, the Saudi driver is ready to pounce should the opportunity present itself, in 2nd position, 10’17’’ behind Lategan.

“It wasn’t an easy stage. We opened the special for about the first 200 kilometres without taking any risks because we could hear a small noise coming from the back of the car, which we wanted to bring back to the bivouac in one piece before the second week, for which we have a good position. It was the hardest first week of my career on the Dakar. All the stages were long, tough and difficult everywhere. Last year, I was leading the race until the day before the rest day when the car rolled over due to a suspension problem. Today, we were close to the lead, with just a 10-minute gap, which is nothing. In the dunes, we are capable of doing very well”.