With just one day left in the 2025 Dakar, Yazeed Al Rajhi took a crucial step towards victory by reclaiming the lead. stage 11 was won by Mattias Ekström.
On a day delayed by morning fog, the competitors tackled 275 kilometers of timed racing. Ekström (Ford M-Sport) was the fastest, narrowly beating Nasser Al-Attiyah (The Dacia Sandriders) by just 41 seconds.
Third place went to Al Rajhi (Overdrive Racing/Toyota), 1m45s behind, followed by Mitchell Guthrie (Ford M-Sport) and Henk Lategan (Toyota), who was the overall leader before this stage.
The South African driver lost nearly nine minutes to Al Rajhi, allowing the Saudi to take the lead with a significant 6m11s advantage heading into tomorrow’s final 61 kilometers of timed racing.
Ekström is now in third, but with less than a four-minute cushion over Al-Attiyah. The top five is rounded out by Guthrie, with only one day remaining in the rally.
