Australian Daniel Sanders has a nine-minute bike lead heading into Friday’s final Stage 12 after his challengers went all out to cut the gap in Thursday’s penultimate Stage 11. The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider saw nearest rival Tosha Schareina take 7m31s out of him with Argentine Luciano Benavides and Adrien Van Beveren also making inroads.
– With just one stage left in the Empty Quarter Desert to navigate safely for his first Dakar title after leading from the Prologue, Sanders, 30, revealed: “Tomorrow, we’ve got 60km in the sand dunes. Tonight I’m going to look at changing the bike set-up a little bit, I wasn’t fully happy with it today. The focus will be on having a good day.”
– As teenage Spaniard Edgar Canet looks to close out a memorable Rally2 title victory tomorrow, Sanders’ teammate Benavides has an outside shot at finishing on the bike podium with 6m26s separating him from Frenchman Van Beveren in third place. Benavides, 29, admitted: “It’s been a tough Dakar. Everyone who has made it into the Top 10 has done a really good job. The competition has been strong.”
– There was not much of a time change in the Ultimate class standings, even though Mattias Ekström of Ford M-Sport edged out Nasser Al-Attiyah of the Dacia Sandriders for his first 2025 Dakar stage win by 41 seconds after five-time winner Al-Attiyah suffered two flat tyres that cost him precious time. Swede Ekström, who holds a 4m16s advantage in third place over the Qatari in fourth, said: “I was pushing all stage. It’s been a very competitive two weeks with lots of tough challenges along the way.”
– American Mitch Guthrie Jr. continued to enjoy his Ultimate class rookie ride with the Californian bringing home his Ford Raptor T1+ in fourth spot on the day to place fifth overall. The 28-year-old said: “There were some tough areas to navigate and get up the dunes on this stage. We kept it moving, made some passes and I feel like we did alright.”
– With Saudi driver Dania Akeel impressing again with third after her Stage 10 triumph, Gonçalo Guerreiro’s Challenger class title tilt suffered a blow as he lost over 45 minutes to Argentine leader Nicolas Cavigliasso – the gap between him and third-placed Spaniard Pau Navarro now less than 20 minutes.
– Chilean Francisco ‘Chaleco’ López moved up to second in the SSV class after Frenchman Xavier de Soultrait suffered a nightmare day with the Dakar convoy convening for a mass Stage 12 start on Friday before charging towards one final finish line and the trophy presentations.
2025 Dakar Rally selected overall standings after Stage 11
Ultimate
1. Yazeed Al Rajhi (SAU) 51:53.36
2. Henk Lategan (ZAF) +06.11
3. Mattias Ekström (SWE) +22.34
4. Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT) +26.50
5. Mitch Guthrie Jr. (USA) +59.26
9. Seth Quintero (USA) +2:19.47
12. Rokas Baciuška (LTU) +3:40.19
14. Lucas Moraes (BRA) +5:27.55
18. Guillaume De Mévius (BEL) +8:04.02
41. Cristina Gutiérrez (ESP) +38:42.40
43. Nani Roma (ESP) +70:14.08
Challenger
1. Nicolas Cavigliasso (ARG) 56:44.09
2. Gonçalo Guerreiro (POR) +1:11.36
3. Pau Navarro (ESP) +1:30.11
20. Corbin Leaverton (USA) +34:31.41
28. Dania Akeel (SAU) +73:04.22
SSV
1. Brock Heger (USA) 58:04.54
2. Francisco López (CHL) +2:06.00
3. Alexandre Pinto (POR) +3:37.06
Bike
1. Daniel Sanders (AUS) 52:13.34
2. Tosha Schareina (ESP) +9.00
3. Adrien Van Beveren (FRA) +15.50
4. Luciano Benavides (ARG) +22.16
8. Edgar Canet (ESP) +1:39.09
Bike (Rally2)
1. Edgar Canet (ESP) 53:52.43
2. Tobias Ebster (AUT) +35.08
3. Romain Dumontier (FRA) +1:22.53
Learn More About the 2025 Dakar Rally Event HERE.
