Sunday’s first leg of the 48-hour chrono stage saw competitors of the 2025 Dakar Rally faced with the prospect of stopping at any one of six temporary camps by the 15:00 deadline. Saudi local Yazeed Al Rajhi was fastest to bivouac E in his Team Overdrive Racing Toyota Hilux, 626 km into the two-day special.
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For most, this year’s chrono was the real start of the Dakar, with many drivers digging themselves into thick soft sand on the dunes after an initial rocky section. Al Rajhi and co-driver Timo Gottschalk were the cream of the crop, besting five-time winner Nasser Al-Attiyah (Dacia Sandriders) and former DTM double champ Mattias Ekström (M-Sport Ford) to the fifth break zone. Defending champion Carlos Sainz was flying early on his own Ford, before rolling down a dune.
Although team mechanics were allowed to work on the race vehicles 168 km into the marathon stage, competitors then had to drive as far as possible before camping under the stars with no access to ablution facilities, mobile phones, and the outside world. The top 10 overall will remain provisionally unchanged before the end of the stage on Monday 6 January.
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