Stage 6 - Results

Dakar 2025 | Stage 6 | HAIL > AL DUWADIMI
January 11 ^th 2025 - 16:10 [GMT + 3]

• The reigning champion, Ricky Brabec, let his experience do the talking. He claimed his eleventh career stage win by 23 seconds over his teammate Adrien Van Beveren and moved up two places to fourth overall. The Frenchman gave a navigation masterclass and scooped up all the time bonuses available to the first rider on the course, tightening his grip on third place overall, 1′11″ behind the leader, Daniel Sanders.
• One of the heavy hitters in the class, the Motswana Ross Branch, crashed out of the race at km 84. That was also where Bradley Cox, the 2024 W2RC champion in Rally 2, finally threw in the towel after limping on for a while following a crash right after the start.
• The first special of the second week ushered in a new scenario without a single Toyota Hilux on the stage podium. Guillaume de Mévius and his Mini put an end to the Japanese maker's unbeaten run since the prologue in Bisha, prevailing over his teammate João Ferreira and Nasser Al Attiyah, who is determined to drag himself back into contention in his Dacia.
• The Qatari continued to gnaw away at his deficit, gaining about 5 minutes on the leader, Henk Lategan. Even so, it was not good enough to surpass Mattias Ekström, third overall. Yazeed Al Rajhi emerged as the greatest threat to the South African, slashing their difference to a meagre 7′16″ —just a few grains of sand in the enormity of the desert.

Rally 2 | Ebster takes it

Dusan Drdaj pushed Tobias Ebster to the very end but fell short, finishing just 1'04" behind the Austrian, who claimed the stage win in the Rally 2 category. Toni Mulec secured third place, 1'22" off the leader, delivering one of his best performances since the start of the race. It was one of Mulec's most solid performances this year.

Rally GP | Brabec win confirmed

Mason Klein lost time towards the end of the special and is no longer in contention for the win. The American is in sixth place, 3'48" behind at km 577. His compatriot Ricky Brabec therefore takes the stage win ahead of Adrien Van Beveren (+23") and Ignacio Cornejo (+51"). This marks the eleventh Dakar victory of Brabec's career and the 112th for Honda. HRC keep the momentum going as Brabec follows in the footsteps of Van Beveren, who won stage 5 two days ago.

Ultimate | It's in the bag for De Mévius

Guy Botterill cracked under pressure from Guillaume de Mévius at km 531 and was unable to claw back the deficit by the finish. The South African had to settle for second, handing his Belgian rival a second Ultimate class victory, adding to his triumph last year. It is a solid start for the Mini crew after a rally filled with challenges and hurdles.