What Dakar 2025 Stage 9 Report
Where Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
When Tuesday 14 January 2025
Terrible Tuesday teaches South African crews a lesson
While Monday was wonderful for the South Africans on Dakar 2025, Tuesday’s stage 9 proved wicked when two top competitors crashed out and the rest of them seemed to endure a day to forget.
On a day that their rivals took chunks out of their advantage, South African champions Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings’ Gazoo entry lost its lead to Saudi home hero Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk’s similar Toyota Hilux. Another South African Gazoo crew, Guy Botterill and Dennis Murphy walked away from a huge accident, while SA biker Aaron Mare also crashed out. Luciano Benavides took KTM’s seventh stage win of ’25 while teammate Daniel Saunders consolidated his overall lead.
It was always going to be tough for overall leaders Lategan and Cummings as they opened the road on Tuesday following their Monday win. They were soon profusely losing time to day leaders and third and fourth overall, Qatari 5-time Dakar winner Nasser Al-Attiyah and Frenchman Edouard Boulanger’s Dacia Sandrider, and Swedes Mattias Ekström and Emil Bergkvist’s Ford Raptor. Al Rajhi also closed in fast.
Then Botterill and Murphy suffered their catastrophic accident to exit the race. Well back in the standings after earlier troubles, their loss however removes an important aspect of tactical support from the Gazoo attack. Back on track, Lategan got lost and suffered two punctures as he pushed as hard as he could to come home eleventh, an achievement in itself. He limited the damage to 16 minutes to leader Attiyah, who took the day from French crew Guillaume De Mévius and Mathieu Baumel in their Mini, Al Rajhi and Ekstrom.
It was not a very good day for any of the South African crews. Also hobbled by starting up front, SA Century CR7 crews, Frenchmen Mathieu Serradori and Loic Minaudier and South Africans Brian Baragwanath and Leonard Cremer ended 13th and 22nd, with Saood Variawa and Francois Cazalet Toyota coming in 20th in the other remaining Gazoo Hilux. Daniel Schröder and South African Henry Köhne’s WCT Amarok started well but slipped back through the day to end up 24th .
The upshot of which sees Al Rajhi into the lead by seven minutes over Lategan to retain the Toyota 1-2. Ekstrom a further 17 minutes behind Lategan as he now comes under pressure from Attiyah, now just seconds behind in fourth. Serradori sits ninth overall, Baragwanath tenth, and Variawa provisionally 25th as Dakar 2025 heads into what promises to be a four way fight to the death. With the shoe on the other foot on Wednesday, Lategan will enjoy the advantage of starting well back.
On two wheels, top two for the day Luciano Benavides and Adrien Van Beveren’s Honda came from well back. Overall leader Daniel Sanders minimised the effect of starting in front to come home third from Honda duo Ricky Brabec and Skyler Howes and José Cornejo’s Hero Moto. South African Michael Docherty ran in the top ten for much of the day before slipping back to finish 15th overall and seventh in Rally 2. His privateer compatriots, Dwain Barnard was 64th and Willem Avenant 88th.
Wednesday’s short 120 km stage 10 into the Empty Quarter to Shubaytah is dunes all the way as Dakar 2025 prepares to deliver the inevitable sting in the tail,
Issued on behalf of Dakar 2025 Daily Report
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