● The first of the season’s five rounds took place in Saudi Arabia with the 47th edition of the Dakar.
● Current title holders Nasser Al Attiyah and Ross Branch have not begun their campaign in the best way. The Qatari is third in the championship, while the man from Botswana did not reach the finish of the rally.
● In the car category, Yazeed Al Rajhi won the Dakar and took the lead in the championship for the first time in his career. Toyota were victorious in the first match between constructors.
● In the bike category, Daniel Sanders achieved his first triumph on the Dakar and the Australian has taken the championship lead as a result. Thanks to the fourth-placed finish of his team-mate Luciano Benavides, KTM lead the constructors’ standings.
● The second round of the championship will take place soon on 21st to 27th February at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge.
FIA: a first for Al Rajhi
Despite third place in the world championship in 2022 and runner-up position in 2023-24, Yazeed Al Rajhi (Overdrive Racing) had never before led the W2RC standings. With the first triumph in his career on the Dakar, the Saudi driver has emulated Sébastien Loeb and Carlos Sainz, the only two drivers who have managed to disrupt the domination of three times world champion Nasser Al Attiyah for a round or two in the general standings over the previous three seasons. The first two drivers mentioned were unable to renew these past performances, after both rolling their cars and tumbling out of the rally. The misfortunes suffered on the Dakar 2024 by Nasser Al Attiyah and Yazeed Al Rajhi, who both failed to finish, and their finishing positions at the end of the season have already proved that the race for the world title is by no means over for Loeb and Sainz, who will be back to make up for their mishaps in several weeks’ time on the second round on the calendar.
With second place on the Dakar, Henk Lategan (Toyota Gazoo Racing) has made a noteworthy entrance to the championship. The South African, who had never previously scored the slightest W2RC point, has climbed directly into second place!
Nasser Al Attiyah, who finished 4th in Shubaytah in his new Dacia Sandrider, is 3rd in the W2RC standings. Thanks to his stage performances, he has been able to overtake Mattias Ekstrom, who finished on the Dakar podium in the new Ford M-Sport, but who occupies 4th position in the championship, 4 points behind the Qatari.
Mitch Guthrie, 5th on the Dakar and in the championship, strengthens Ford’s position in the constructors’ championship. Toyota’s victory is unassailable, while Ford is ahead of Dacia.
In the Challenger class, Nicolas Cavigliasso (BBR) lived up to his position. Following second place in the 2024 championship behind Rokas Baciuska, who has since switched to the Ultimate class, the Argentinean won his first Dakar title in the class alongside his wife Valentina Pertegarini. Two newcomers to the Dakar and the championship, namely Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team recruits Gonçalo Guerreiro and Corbin Leaverton occupy 2nd and 4th place respectively in the championship. Another young driver, Pau Navarro, has moved in between them, also driving a Taurus run by the French team BBR. Saudi drivers Yasir Seaidan and Dania Akeel (BBR), on the one hand, and those backed by the Qatar Federation, Abdulaziz Al Kuwari and Khalifa Al Attiyah (Nasser Racing), on the other hand, are in the top 10, with the Middle East reinforcing its presence in the Challenger class, well inspired by their leader Yazeed Al Rajhi.
In the SSV class, 25-year-old Portuguese driver Alexandre Pinto (Old Friends Rally) has taken the lead ahead of Enrico Gaspari (TH-Trucks) and championship debutant Sara Price (Can-Am Factory). The American suffered mechanical problems at the beginning of the Dakar but nevertheless picked up six stage victories in the standings of competitors enrolled in the championship. The new Wonder-woman of the W2RC will be one to watch this season!
FIM : a clean sweep for KTM
The Mattighofen factory refocused its forces under the sole orange banner and this gamble paid off. KTM has left the Dakar at the top of all the world championship standings: Rally GP, Rally 2 and constructors, which is a first since 2022 and the launch of the W2RC. The Rally GP and Rally 2 double under the same colours has never happened before. In the three previous seasons, Honda began the season in the lead in the constructors’ standings.
Thanks to his clear victory, Daniel Sanders has taken command of the championship for the first time in his career. The fourth-place finish achieved by his team-mate Luciano Benavides allows the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team to make up for the second and third places earned by Tosha Schareina and Adrien Van Beveren (Monster Energy Honda HRC) on the Dakar podium. The reds put the Spaniard’s and Frenchman’s team-mates Ricky Brabec and Skyler Howes in 5th and 6th place, sandwiching the younger Benavides brother in the general standings. Honda is second in the constructors’ championship but is especially well-placed end well-represented, as has been usual over the last three seasons when the winged brand has won the title.
The same cannot be said for Hero MotoSports. The brand which has the rider with race number 1 in its ranks had a difficult time on the first round. Current world champion Ross Branch, who enjoyed a superb beginning to the Dakar, occupying the podium in the general rankings, fell on stage 6. His team-mate Sebastian Buhler suffered the same fate on stage 1, so only Nacho Cornejo has scored championship points for the moment. The Chilean biker is the seventh and last Rally GP rider to have picked up points in Saudi Arabia.
In the Rally 2 class, at the last minute before the Dakar, the official KTM team enrolled the first Rally 2 rider in its history. At the age of 19 years, this in no way affected Edgar Canet as he won the class on the rally. Also the leading rookie on the race and 8th in the general rankings, the Catalan finished just ahead of another KTM rider. Tobias Ebster (BAS World KTM Racing), the leading privateer rider on the Dakar, was indeed the best rookie on the previous edition. The Austrian, who finished 20th in 2024, accomplished a leap forward towards the discipline’s elite. Romain Dumontier (Honda HRC), who won the class in the 2023 championship but was pipped at the post last year by Bradley Cox, completes the Rally 2 podium on completion of the Dakar to put a dash of red on the provisional podium.
In the new Rally 2 rider team standings, KTM once again has hogged the limelight thanks to the performances of the BAS World KTM Racing team riders (Tobias Ebster and Toni Mulec).