Dakar Rally Stage 11: Rajhi regains overall lead, Sanders on Bikes
Ford driver Mattias Ekstrom (pictured) won Stage 11 of 2025 Dakar Rally on Thursday, while Overdrive’s Yazeed Al-Rajhi took a decisive lead over factory Toyota rival Henk Lategan while Mattias Ekstrom consolidated his position on the 3rd step of the podium.
If Yazeed Al Rajhi wins his first Dakar rally tomorrow, for the Saudi driver it will also be the first time he has taken command in the W2RC general standings, a privilege which is usually reserved for Nasser Al Attiyah.
Only Sébastien Loeb and Carlos Sainz have taken the lead from the Qatari. The Frenchman did it during the 2022 season on completion of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge (ADDC), when he left the second leg with an advantage of 1 point over Al Attiyah.
Carlos Sainz remained leader of the general standings for two events on the 2024 calendar: the Dakar and the ADDC. Al Rajhi will become the third man to contest first place in the championship with the three times world champion. A double date with history awaits the Saudi driver.
Bikes
It was supposed to have a total distance of 308 km but instead the 11th stage of the Dakar, held all within Shubaytah, was shortened to 152 km. It was all the fault of poor visibility due to fog, which initially also forced organizers to postpone the start and then opt to cut the mileage.
Coming out on top was Tosha Schareina on a Honda. The Spaniard was thus able to keep his chances for the final victory open by taking advantage of the sixth quickest time for leader Daniel Sanders on a KTM. After a thrilling duel with Adrien Van Beveren, Luciano Benavides on KTM crossed the finish line in second place, leaving the Honda rider in third.
Fourth was the Honda of Ricky Brabec, followed by the Hero of José Cornejo Florimo in great form and able to precede the leader and Mathieu Dovèze on KTM, who turned out to be the best among Rally2 at the end of an intense head-to-head with teammate Toni Mulec, just 20s behind.
2025 Dakar Rally Stage 11 Results – Cars
| Pos. | No. | Drive-Team | Team | Time | Behind | Penalty |
| 1 | 226 | (swe) MATTIAS EKSTRÖM (swe) EMIL BERGKVIST | FORD M-SPORT | 04h 19m 27s | ||
| 2 | 200 | (qat) NASSER AL-ATTIYAH (fra) EDOUARD BOULANGER | THE DACIA SANDRIDERS | 04h 20m 08s | + 00h 00m 41s | |
| 3 | 201 | (sau) YAZEED AL RAJHI (deu) TIMO GOTTSCHALK | OVERDRIVE RACING | 04h 21m 12s | + 00h 01m 45s | |
| 4 | 228 | (usa) MITCHELL GUTHRIE (usa) KELLON WALCH | FORD M-SPORT | 04h 29m 00s | + 00h 09m 33s | |
| 5 | 211 | (zaf) HENK LATEGAN (zaf) BRETT CUMMINGS | TOYOTA GAZOO RACING | 04h 29m 50s | + 00h 10m 23s | |
| 6 | 240 | (prt) JOAO FERREIRA (prt) FILIPE PALMEIRO | X-RAID MINI JCW TEAM | 04h 31m 03s | + 00h 11m 36s | |
| 7 | 210 | (ltu) ROKAS BACIUSKA (esp) ORIOL MENA | OVERDRIVE RACING | 04h 31m 21s | + 00h 11m 54s | |
| 8 | 300 | (sau) YASIR SEAIDAN (fra) MICHAEL METGE | TEAM BBR | 04h 32m 09s | + 00h 12m 42s | |
| 9 | 209 | (fra) MATHIEU SERRADORI (fra) LOIC MINAUDIER | CENTURY RACING FACTORY TEAM | 04h 32m 36s | + 00h 13m 09s | |
| 10 | 405 | (usa) SARA PRICE (usa) SEAN BERRIMAN | CAN-AM FACTORY TEAM | 04h 35m 06s | + 00h 15m 39s |
2025 Dakar Rally Overall standings after Stage 11 – Cars
| Pos. | No. | Drive-Team | Team | Time | Behind | Penalty |
| 1 | 201 | (sau) YAZEED AL RAJHI (deu) TIMO GOTTSCHALK | OVERDRIVE RACING | 51h 53m 36s | 00h 04m 00s | |
| 2 | 211 | (zaf) HENK LATEGAN (zaf) BRETT CUMMINGS | TOYOTA GAZOO RACING | 51h 59m 47s | + 00h 06m 11s | 00h 02m 00s |
| 3 | 226 | (swe) MATTIAS EKSTRÖM (swe) EMIL BERGKVIST | FORD M-SPORT | 52h 16m 10s | + 00h 22m 34s | 00h 01m 00s |
| 4 | 200 | (qat) NASSER AL-ATTIYAH (fra) EDOUARD BOULANGER | THE DACIA SANDRIDERS | 52h 20m 26s | + 00h 26m 50s | 00h 17m 00s |
| 5 | 228 | (usa) MITCHELL GUTHRIE (usa) KELLON WALCH | FORD M-SPORT | 52h 53m 02s | + 00h 59m 26s | 00h 12m 00s |
| 6 | 209 | (fra) MATHIEU SERRADORI (fra) LOIC MINAUDIER | CENTURY RACING FACTORY TEAM | 53h 03m 44s | + 01h 10m 08s | 00h 04m 50s |
| 7 | 216 | (arg) JUAN CRUZ YACOPINI (esp) DANIEL OLIVERAS | OVERDRIVE RACING | 53h 51m 49s | + 01h 58m 13s | 00h 04m 00s |
| 8 | 240 | (prt) JOAO FERREIRA (prt) FILIPE PALMEIRO | X-RAID MINI JCW TEAM | 54h 09m 35s | + 02h 15m 59s | 00h 08m 00s |
| 9 | 204 | (usa) SETH QUINTERO (deu) DENNIS ZENZ | TOYOTA GAZOO RACING | 54h 13m 23s | + 02h 19m 47s | 00h 15m 00s |
| 10 | 214 | (zaf) BRIAN BARAGWANATH (zaf) LEONARD CREMER | CENTURY RACING FACTORY TEAM | 54h 47m 02s | + 02h 53m 26s | 00h 10m 00s |
2025 Dakar Rally Stage 11 Results – Bikes
| Pos. | No. | Rider | Team | Time | Behind | Penalty |
| 1 | 68 | (esp) TOSHA SCHAREINA | MONSTER ENERGY HONDA HRC | 02h 12m 04s | ||
| 2 | 77 | (arg) LUCIANO BENAVIDES | RED BULL KTM FACTORY RACING | 02h 12m 37s | + 00h 00m 33s | |
| 3 | 42 | (fra) ADRIEN VAN BEVEREN | MONSTER ENERGY HONDA HRC | 02h 13m 01s | + 00h 00m 57s | |
| 4 | 9 | (usa) RICKY BRABEC | MONSTER ENERGY HONDA HRC | 02h 15m 52s | + 00h 03m 48s | |
| 5 | 11 | (chl) JOSE IGNACIO CORNEJO FLORIMO | HERO MOTOSPORTS TEAM RALLY | 02h 18m 06s | + 00h 06m 02s | |
| 6 | 4 | (aus) DANIEL SANDERS | RED BULL KTM FACTORY RACING | 02h 19m 35s | + 00h 07m 31s | |
| 7 | 21 | (fra) MATHIEU DOVEZE | BAS world KTM racing team | 02h 19m 40s | + 00h 07m 36s | |
| 8 | 28 | (svn) TONI MULEC | BAS WORLD KTM RACING TEAM | 02h 20m 00s | + 00h 07m 56s | |
| 9 | 142 | (svk) STEFAN SVITKO | SLOVNAFT RALLY TEAM | 02h 24m 14s | + 00h 12m 10s | |
| 10 | 10 | (usa) SKYLER HOWES | MONSTER ENERGY HONDA HRC | 02h 24m 48s | + 00h 12m 44s |
2025 Dakar Rally Overall standings after Stage 11 – Bikes
| Pos. | No. | Rider | Team | Time | Behind | Penalty |
| 1 | 4 | (aus) DANIEL SANDERS | RED BULL KTM FACTORY RACING | 52h 13m 34s | 00h 01m 00s | |
| 2 | 68 | (esp) TOSHA SCHAREINA | MONSTER ENERGY HONDA HRC | 52h 22m 34s | + 00h 09m 00s | |
| 3 | 42 | (fra) ADRIEN VAN BEVEREN | MONSTER ENERGY HONDA HRC | 52h 29m 24s | + 00h 15m 50s | 00h 02m 00s |
| 4 | 77 | (arg) LUCIANO BENAVIDES | RED BULL KTM FACTORY RACING | 52h 35m 50s | + 00h 22m 16s | 00h 02m 00s |
| 5 | 9 | (usa) RICKY BRABEC | MONSTER ENERGY HONDA HRC | 52h 42m 09s | + 00h 28m 35s | |
| 6 | 10 | (usa) SKYLER HOWES | MONSTER ENERGY HONDA HRC | 52h 55m 03s | + 00h 41m 29s | |
| 7 | 11 | (chl) JOSE IGNACIO CORNEJO FLORIMO | HERO MOTOSPORTS TEAM RALLY | 53h 10m 33s | + 00h 56m 59s | 00h 02m 00s |
| 8 | 73 | (esp) EDGAR CANET | RED BULL KTM FACTORY RACING | 53h 52m 43s | + 01h 39m 09s | 00h 11m 10s |
| 9 | 96 | (aut) TOBIAS EBSTER | BAS world KTM racing team | 54h 27m 51s | + 02h 14m 17s | |
| 10 | 142 | (svk) STEFAN SVITKO | SLOVNAFT RALLY TEAM | 54h 28m 20s | + 02h 14m 46s | 00h 01m 00s |