Dakar Rally: 2025 Prologue is in the books

Henk Lategan (shown) has been credited with the best time on the 2025 Dakar prologue and has won his first stage since the final one during the 2022 edition.

211 LATEGAN Henk and Navigator CUMMINGS Brett (zaf), Toyota, Toyota Gazoo Racing

The Toyota driver completed the prologue just one second ahead of Mattias Ekström’s Ford. Dakar ‘King’ Nasser Al Attiyah completed the day’s podium, 20’ sec. behind the South African.

Unlike in the bikes category, times from Prologue will not be added to the respective tallies of drivers in cars. However, finishing positions outside the top 10 will still be utilized for determining the starting order for Saturday’s special.

#200 AL-ATTIYAH Naser (qat), BOULANGER Edouard (fra), Dacia, The Dacia Sandriders, FIA W2RC, Ultimate, action at podium start during the Prologue of the Dakar 2025 on January 3, 2025 around Bisha, Saudi Arabia. A.S.O./J.Delfosse/DPPIJulien Delfosse / DPPI

Bikes: Sanders wins the prologue

Daniel Sanders has posted the day’s best time and has won his first stage victory since stage 3 of the 2023 edition. ‘Chucky’ beat Ross Branch by 12’’ and titleholder Ricky Brabec by 18’’. It should be noted that Edgar Canet, the day’s Rally 2 winner, achieved the same time as Branch and is in third in the overall rankings for the bikes.

04 SANDERS Daniel (aus), KTM, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, FIM W2RC, RallyGP, action at podium start during the Prologue of the Dakar 2025 on January 3, 2025 around Bisha, Saudi Arabia. A.S.O./J.Delfosse/DPPIJulien Delfosse / DPPI

Challenger: Leaverton wins

Corbin Leaverton, a new recruit for the Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team, has already made his mark on his first Dakar by winning today’s prologue with a lead of 4s over his team-mate, also a debutant, Gonçalo Guerreiro. They are following in the footsteps of Seth Quintero and Mitch Guthrie who both previously drove for the same team. Leaverton is a regular winner in the World Off-Road Championship and Best In The Desert in the USA and is now discovering the Saudi deserts after a swift preparation in Morocco.

2025 Dakar Rally Prologue Top 10 (Cars)

Pos.	No.	Drive-Team	Team	Time	Behind
1	211	(zaf) HENK LATEGAN (zaf) BRETT CUMMINGS	TOYOTA GAZOO RACING	15m 28s	+0.00s
2	226	(swe) MATTIAS EKSTRÖM (swe) EMIL BERGKVIST	FORD M-SPORT	15m 29s	+0.01s
3	200	(qat) NASSER AL-ATTIYAH (fra) EDOUARD BOULANGER	THE DACIA SANDRIDERS	15m 48s	+0.20s
4	210	(ltu) ROKAS BACIUSKA (esp) ORIOL MENA	OVERDRIVE RACING	15m 49s	+0.21s
5	214	(zaf) BRIAN BARAGWANATH (zaf) LEONARD CREMER	CENTURY RACING FACTORY TEAM	15m 58s	+0.30s
6	219	(fra) SEBASTIEN LOEB (bel) FABIAN LURQUIN	THE DACIA SANDRIDERS	16m 01s	+0.33s
7	203	(bra) LUCAS MORAES (esp) ARMAND MONLEON	TOYOTA GAZOO RACING	16m 03s	+0.35s
8	227	(esp) NANI ROMA (esp) ALEX HARO	FORD M-SPORT	16m 03s	+0.35s
9	218	(zaf) SAOOD VARIAWA (fra) FRANCOIS CAZALET	TOYOTA GAZOO RACING	16m 09s	+0.41s
10	202	(fra) GUERLAIN CHICHERIT (fra) ALEX WINOCQ	X-RAID MINI JCW TEAM	16m 10s	+0.42s

2025 Dakar Rally Prologue Top 10 (Bikes)

Pos.	No.	Drive-Team	Team	Time	Behind
1	4	(aus) DANIEL SANDERS	RED BULL KTM FACTORY RACING	16m51s	+0s
2	1	(bwa) ROSS BRANCH	HERO MOTOSPORTS TEAM RALLY	17m03s	+12s
3	73	(esp) EDGAR CANET	RED BULL KTM FACTORY RACING	17m03s	+12s
4	9	(usa) RICKY BRABEC	MONSTER ENERGY HONDA HRC	17m09s	+18s
5	68	(esp) TOSHA SCHAREINA	MONSTER ENERGY HONDA HRC	17m16s	+25s
6	7	(chl) PABLO QUINTANILLA	MONSTER ENERGY HONDA HRC	17m18s	27s
7	77	(arg) LUCIANO BENAVIDES	RED BULL KTM FACTORY RACING	17m31s	40s
8	42	(fra) ADRIEN VAN BEVEREN	MONSTER ENERGY HONDA HRC	17m32s	41s
9	22	(zaf) MICHAEL DOCHERTY	BAS world KTM racing team	17m38s	47s
10	10	(usa) SKYLER HOWES	MONSTER ENERGY HONDA HRC	17m43s	52s