Dakar Rally 2025: Saudi Al-Rajhi Leads in Overall Standings, Qatari Al-Attiyah Wins Stage 9

Riyadh: Competition in Stage 9 of the Saudi Dakar Rally 2025 continued today. This year’s rally, held for the sixth consecutive time in Saudi Arabia, is organized by the Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation under the supervision of the Ministry of Sport.

According to Saudi Press Agency, today’s race round began in Riyadh and concluded at the Al-Haradh center in the Al-Ahsa Governorate, covering a total distance of 589 kilometers, with 357 kilometers dedicated to the timed special stage. Qatari champion Nasser Al-Attiyah of the “Dacia Sand Riders” team claimed the best performance in the car category, completing the total distance in a time of 2 hours, 52 minutes, and 59 seconds, followed by Swedish driver Matthias Ekstr¶m of the “Ford Motorsport” team, who finished 2 minutes and 47 seconds behind, and Saudi driver Yazeed Al-Rajhi of the “Overdrive” team, who came in 3 minutes and 12 seconds behind.

Al-Rajhi managed to overtake Al-Attiyah to take the lead in the overall car category standings, leading by 7 minutes and 9 seconds ahead of second-place South African Henk Lategan, who drives for the “Toyota Gazoo” team. Ekstr¶m trails the leader by 24 minutes and 50 seconds.

In the motorcycle category, Argentine Luciano Benavides of the “Red Bull KTM Factory Racing” team finished Stage 9 in first place, arriving at the Al-Haradh center in 3 hours, 15 minutes, and 38 seconds. He was followed by Frenchman Adrien Van Beveren of the “Monster Energy Honda HRC” team in second, 1 minute and 54 seconds behind, and Australian Daniel Sanders, also of the “Red Bull KTM Factory Racing” team, in third place, 3 minutes and 4 seconds behind the leader.

As for the Light Prototype (Challenger) vehicles category, Argentine David Zille of the “Dakarback Rally Sport” team finished first with a time of 3 hours, 26 minutes, and 50 seconds, followed by Qatari driver Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari of the “Nasser Racing” team in second place. His teammate, Khalifa Al-Attiyah, also from Qatar, secured third, trailing the leader by just 2 minutes and 1 second.

In the Light Prototype (SS V) vehicles category, Chilean Francisco Lopez Contardo of the “Can-Am Factory” team took first place, completing the stage in 3 hours, 38 minutes, and 10 seconds, followed by American Brock Heger of the “Sebastien Loeb Racing” team in second, 1 minute and 11 seconds behind, while Argentine Jerem­as Gonz¡lez Ferioli of the “Can-Am Factory” team came in third, 2 minutes and 14 seconds behind the leader.

In the truck category, Czech driver Ale‚¬Å¡¬€¦¡¬¦¡ Loprais of the “Insta Trade Loprais” team took first place with a time of 3 hours, 20 minutes, and 51 seconds. Dutch driver Mitchell Van Den Brink of the “Eurol Rally Sport” team finished second, 1 minute and 29 seconds behind, and Lithuanian Vaidas ‚¬Å¡¬€¦¡¬¦½ala of the “Skoda De Roy” team took third, 5 minutes and 42 seconds behind the leader.

The competition will continue on Wednesday with Stage 10 of the Saudi Dakar Rally 2025, covering a distance of 640 kilometers, including 120 kilometers of timed special stages.

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