The 2025 Dakar Rally has concluded after 14 gruelling days and nearly 8,000km. Toyota privateer Yazeeh Al-Rajhi emerged as a surprise winner in the cars class, becoming the first Saudi Arabian driver to win the Dakar Rally, and that too on home soil. In the bikes class, Daniel Sanders took a commanding victory, handing KTM its 20th Dakar win.
Having taken on everything from sand dunes to rocky valleys, 70 percent of the competitors made it to the finish line – including 40 cars, 77 bikes, 1 stock car, 21 Challengers, 23 SSVs and 13 trucks.
- Sanjay Takale first Indian driver to finish Dakar the Rally
- Martin Macik wins trucks title
Dakar 2025 cars winner: Yazeed Al-Rajhi
Perseverance paid off for Saudi billionaire Al-Rajhi, who won the Dakar Rally on his 11th attempt. With several favourites like Carlos Sainz and Sebastien Loeb exiting in the first week itself, the battle for victory boiled down to Toyota’s Henk Lategan and Al-Rajhi.
Lategan took the lead at the halfway point but lost a lot of time when he had to open the way in Stage 9. He bounced back in Stage 10 to retake the lead, but a difficult Stage 11 swung the battle in favour of Al-Rajhi. The Saudi driver held on to take victory, finishing just 3 minutes and 57 seconds ahead of Lategan. Mattias Ekstrom finished third for Ford, handing the team a podium finish in its full-fledged Dakar debut. Newcomers Dacia also made it to the finish, with Nasser Al-Attiyah finishing fourth.
Dakar 2025 bikes winner: Daniel Sanders
KTM’s Daniel Sanders led the bikes class from start to finish – the first time this feat has been achieved since Marc Coma in 2009. The Australian secured five stage wins along the way and took the title with an advantage of 8 minutes and 50 seconds over Honda’s Tosha Schareina.
Adrien Van Beveren finished third, making it a double podium finish for Honda.
Hero P7 at Dakar 2025
Hero MotoSports’ Jose ‘Nacho’ Cornejo finished P7 overall in the bikes class. This is the Indian team’s second-best Dakar performance, following Ross Branch’s P2 finish last year.
The team entered Dakar 2025 with a three-rider squad. However, Sebastian Buhler retired on Stage 1 itself after injuring his shoulder, and Branch crashed out in Stage 6 while in contention for a podium spot.
“I'd like to extend big congratulations to Nacho on securing an impressive 7th place overall. Despite facing significant challenges, including the loss of Basti and Ross early on, Nacho demonstrated remarkable resilience and determination,” said Hero MotoSports team manager Wolfgang Fischer. “While our overall result may not have met our pre-rally expectations, we're incredibly proud of our team's achievements. We experienced zero technical issues throughout the event, and our crew worked seamlessly together.”
Dakar 2025 trucks winner: Martin Macik
MM Technology boss Martin Macik was the only competitor to defend his Dakar Rally title this year. Following an early fight with Ales Loprais and Vaidotas Zala, he started pulling away from Stage 3 onwards.
Macik ended up winning five stages and took victory with a commanding margin of 2 hours and 21.13 minutes. The podium was completed by Mitchel van den Brink and Loprais.
Dakar Classic winner: Carlos Santaolalla
The Dakar Classic class is reserved for vehicles manufactured before 2005, with competitors running on a separate, parallel route better suited to the vehicles. Competitors here follow a regularity rally format, so it’s more of a race for consistency. Rather than setting the fastest times, the goal here is to complete each stage in a specified time and at a specified average speed.
Carlos Santaolalla took victory behind the wheel of a Toyota HDJ 80. He became the first repeat winner in the Dakar Classic class since its introduction in 2021.
Indian driver Sanjay Takale also scripted history, becoming the first Indian driver to compete in and finish the Dakar Rally. He finished P18 overall in the Dakar Classic class.
Dakar 2025 Challenger, SSV winners: Nicolas Cavigliasso, Brock Heger
The Challenger and SSV classes are for UTVs (Utility Task Vehicles) or buggies designed for off-road racing. The big difference is that the Challenger class is for prototypes, while the SSV class is for racers based on production vehicles.
Just like Sanders, Nicolas Cavigliasso (joined by his wife Valentina Pertegarini as navigator) led the rally from start to finish. He took victory in the Challenger class with a lead of over one hour.
In the SSV class, Sebastien Loeb Racing’s Brock Heger triumphed on his Dakar debut. He finished over two hours clear of Can-Am’s Francisco Lopez Contardo.
Dipan Sur
