Dakar Dakar
Dakar 2025, Stage 9: Al-Attiyah takes victory as Al-Rajhi grabs overall lead
Toyota driver Lategan had held the lead since Stage 2 but he now finds himself seven behind Al-Rajhi
Rachit Thukral
Edited: Jan 14, 2025, 4:21 PM
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Nasser Al-Attiyah bounced back from a difficult showing on Monday to claim victory on Stage 9 of the Dakar Rally, while a puncture for Toyota driver Henk Lategan promoted Yazeed Al-Rajhi to the overall lead.
Dacia's Al-Attiyah and Ford rival Mattias Ekstrom initially duelled for victory in the 357km test between Riyadh and Haradh, with the two trading the lead in the first part of the day.
Qatar driver Al-Attiyah held the early advantage in his Dacia Sandrider before Ekstrom flexed his muscle to jump to the front 81km into the stage.
The five-time Dakar winner retook the lead at the following checkpoint and began to stretch his advantage in the second half of the day, pulling out a lead of over a minute with less than 100km to run.
As Ekstrom dropped further back, Al-Attiyah continued to chip away from the rivals, eventually reaching the finish line with a 2m47s margin over X-raid Mini's Guillaume de Mevius, who moved up to second.
The Belgian stood third for much of the all-gravel stage on Tuesday, but leapfrogged Ekstrom at the 217km mark to secure his best finish of 2025 since his victory on Stage 6.
Meanwhile, Overdrive's Al-Rajhi put in a solid performance in a customer Toyota to take third, demoting Ekstrom's Ford to fourth place.
#201 Overdrive Racing Toyota: Yazeed Al Rajhi, Timo Gottschalk
Photo by: A.S.O.
Al-Rajhi team-mate's Rokas Backiuska rounded off the top five, ahead of the other Ford of debutant Mitch Guthrie Jr.
No factory Toyotas finished inside the top 10, as Guy Botterill crashed out at the 272km mark and Lategan suffered an early puncture that cost him seven minutes to fix.
The South African hemorrhaged more time later in the stage, eventually finishing 16 minutes back in 11th place - just a day after he had taken victory on Stage 8.
His troubles allowed Al-Rajhi to snatch the lead in the Ultimate class with just three stages remaining, the Saudi driver moving 7m09s clear at the top of the standings.
Ekstrom continues to hold third place on Ford's maiden factory outing, with Al-Attiyah now less than a minute behind in the last-remaining Dacia.
Guthrie Jr sits half an hour adrift in fifth place, while Matthieu Serradori has strengthened his grip on sixth position despite a low-key outing on Tuesday.
Dakar 2025 - Results after Stage 9 (Top 10)
Pos
Driver
Car
Time/Gap
1
Yazeed Al-Rajhi
Toyota
33h43m58s
2
Henk Lategan
Toyota
7m09s
3
Mattias Ekstrom
Ford
24m50s
4
Nasser Al-Attiyah
Dacia
25m21s
5
Mitch Guthrie Jr
Ford
56m28s
6
Matthieu Serradori
Century
1h06m52s
7
Juan Cruz Yacopini
Toyota
1h44m41s
8
Seth Quintero
Toyota
1h46m07s
9
Joao Ferreira
Mini
2h11m02s
10
Brian Baragwanath
Century
2h31m14s
Photos from Dakar Rally Stage 9
2025 Dakar Rally - Stage 9
2025 Dakar Rally - Stage 9
2025 Dakar Rally - Stage 9
2025 Dakar Rally - Stage 9
2025 Dakar Rally - Stage 9
2025 Dakar Rally - Stage 9
2025 Dakar Rally - Stage 9
2025 Dakar Rally - Stage 9
2025 Dakar Rally - Stage 9
2025 Dakar Rally - Stage 9
2025 Dakar Rally - Stage 9
2025 Dakar Rally - Stage 9
2025 Dakar Rally - Stage 9
2025 Dakar Rally - Stage 9
2025 Dakar Rally - Stage 9
2025 Dakar Rally - Stage 9
2025 Dakar Rally - Stage 9
2025 Dakar Rally - Stage 9
2025 Dakar Rally - Stage 9
2025 Dakar Rally - Stage 9
2025 Dakar Rally - Stage 9
2025 Dakar Rally - Stage 9
2025 Dakar Rally - Stage 9
2025 Dakar Rally - Stage 9
2025 Dakar Rally - Stage 9
2025 Dakar Rally - Stage 9
2025 Dakar Rally - Stage 9
2025 Dakar Rally - Stage 9
2025 Dakar Rally - Stage 9
2025 Dakar Rally - Stage 9
2025 Dakar Rally - Stage 9
2025 Dakar Rally - Stage 9
Dakar
32
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Previous article Dakar 2025, Stage 8: Lategan dominates to extend lead as Al-Attiyah struggles
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