The Dakar Rally approaches its conclusion – a new winner likely to emerge

Al-Rajhi, Sweden’s Mattias Ekström, and five-time winner Nasser Al-Attiyah dominated the 275-kilometre Stage 11. Driving for M-Sport Ford, Ekström posted the fastest time, closely followed by Dacia driver Al-Attiyah and Toyota’s Al-Rajhi within two minutes of Ekström’s benchmark.

Crucially, race leader Henk Lategan was unable to keep up with the trio’s pace on the sand dunes. Lategan fell more than ten minutes behind Ekström’s time, allowing Al-Rajhi to seize the overall lead heading into the final stage.

Al-Rajhi now holds a commanding six-minute advantage over Lategan ahead of Friday’s concluding stage, a relatively short 61-kilometre run. The Saudi driver is on the verge of clinching his first Dakar Rally victory in his home country.

“I knew I can do it. I trusted myself, I attacked and enjoyed,” Al-Rajhi said at the stage’s finish.

Runner-up Lategan has also never won the Dakar, setting the stage for a new winner to be crowned on Friday.

Lategan admitted that his starting position on Thursday left him at a disadvantage compared to Al-Rajhi, who started further back.

“”We were a little bit too far ahead on the road, we finished right behind the opener. To be honest, there’s not much more we could have done today. I tried my best and at the end we were looking for tracks and opening some of the way,” Lategan explained.

“We’ve had a really good Dakar with some ups and downs. Overall, I’m happy with how it went and how it’s going. We still have one more day to go until we get to the finish,” the South African Toyota driver added.

Ekström remains in third place, just over 22 minutes behind Al-Rajhi, while Al-Attiyah trails Ekström by four minutes.

Dakar Rally standings after Stage 11/12: