Dakar Rally Stage 5: Quintero wins by 1-sec., Benavides in Bikes

Dacia driver Nasser Al Attiyah has received a 10-minute penalty due to a missing spare wheel at the finishing line. As a result, he loses out on the 2025 Dakar Rally Stage 5 victory by just 1 second to Seth Quintero in a factory Hilux.

As a result, the American has picked up his second success on this edition of the Dakar following his win on stage 1.

In the general rankings, this penalty has wiped out the gains made by the Qatari, who started the day 35m53s behind Henk Lategan (Toyota) and who finished it by regaining only 53s.

Ford driver Matthius Ekstrom and overall leader Henk Lategan were 3rd and 4th.

Stage 4 winner Yazeed Al-Rajhi rounded out the top-5.

Bikes

Argentinean biker Luciano Benavides has won his fourth stage on the Dakar rally.

He is not exactly in the reckoning for the title, but in 7th place in the general rankings, he is less than 7 minutes from the 3rd step on the podium, currently occupied by Ross Branch.

“I hope the strategy is going to be favorable to me in the second week. I’m happy with the bike and my pace. I feel better than I ever have. But, in his race, some decisions are made that call into question the strategic choices prepared several days before. That said, all in all, I’m still in the game and there are still many kilometers to go”. The 2023 world champion has twice finished 6th on the Dakar, in 2020 and 2023.

Daniel Sanders exceeded the speed limit three times, resulting in a penalty of 8 minutes and 10 seconds. The Australian is still in the lead in the general rankings, but his closest pursuer Tosha Schareina has moved to within 6m52s. Ross Branch (in 3rd, 17m38s behind) and Adrien Van Beveren (in 4th, 18m21s back) have also closed in on ‘Chucky’.

2025 Dakar Rally Standings after Stage 5 – Cars Top-10

2025 Dakar Rally Standings after Stage 5 – Bikes Top-10