The 2025 Dakar Rally roared into life Friday with the high-speed Prologue stage, featuring 29km/18 miles against the clock around the Start Camp in Bisha, Saudi Arabia.
In the Ultimate class, Henk Lategan led the way in his Toyota Hilux (pictured above), heading the V8-powered Ford Raptor T1+ of Mattias Ekstrom by just one second. Five-time Dakar Rally champion Nasser Al-Attiyah placed third with his Dacia Sandrider. “I grew up with V8s in the DTM, so I have a lot of experience with these engines,” said the pumped-up Swede. “I think the sound of a V8 beats everything.”
Al-Attiyah’s entry was the first car onto the Prologue Stage and the Qatari was quick to credit his co-driver Edouard Boulanger for finding the way to the finish line, 20 seconds back of the winner.
Other drivers with big Dakar ambitions, including Sebastien Loeb, Lucas Moraes, and Nani Roma, also placed inside the Prologue’s Top 10 and will now get themselves a favorable starting position for tomorrow’s Stage 1. The times on the Prologue do not count towards the car category general rankings, which is a relief for Guillaume de Mevius, who suffered a puncture and lost four minutes changing a wheel.
Challenger and SSV
American rookie Corbin Leaverton got off to a strong start to win the Prologue behind the wheel of his Taurus T3 Max.
“We wanted to come and start from the front so P1 today helps us to do that. I’m a little bit surprised by the result, but pleasantly surprised,” the Californian said. “It’s just one very small task in the scheme of a huge 12-stage race. But it’s good to know that we have the pace.”
Second place on the Prologue went to Leaverton’s fellow Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team driver Goncalo Guerreiro, with just four seconds separating the rookies. It’s an extremely strong opening statement from the latest batch of youngsters given their shot at the Dakar Rally by the Junior Team program.
Another American debutant, Brock Heger, won in the SSV category behind the wheel of a Polaris, ahead of Argentinean Jeremías González Ferioli and title holder Xavier de Soultrait. The battle is underway between the Sebastien Loeb Racing drivers and the Can-Am vehicles driven by America’s Sara Price and “Chaleco” López, who were fourth and fifth respectively today.
Bikes
Daniel Sanders of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing was the fastest biker on the Prologue Stage. The Australian was the only rider to cover today’s 29km in less than 17 minutes. It’s a great start to the Dakar by the 2024 Rallye du Maroc winner, but Sanders knows this is a marathon and not a sprint.
“It was a pretty smooth run today. Hopefully it’s good enough to give me a good position for tomorrow,” said Sanders, who finished 12s ahead of Ross Branch. “This is just the beginning of a long race.”
It was also a special day for Sanders’s teammate Edgar Canet, who clocked the Prologue’s third fastest time. The rookie has hit the ground running in Saudi Arabia and goes into Stage One full of confidence after this impressive ride.
Starting tomorrow the distances are extreme and the terrain unforgiving. Saturday’s Stage 1 takes the convoy on a timed 412km/256-mile loop around the Bisha Start Camp with plenty of navigation puzzles to solve along the way.