DAKAR 2025: Stage 5 / 5.Etappe MARATHON – all classes: VIDEO-Highlights, report & results + MEGA-GALLERY!

DAKAR Stage 5

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FOCUS

From an aerial point of view, the day’s special could be seen to take place along a line stretching from west to east through the provinces of AlUla and Hail over a distance of 428 km. On zooming in, it became evident that the riders, drivers, and crews experienced an especially varied stage, with an equal amount of quick, sandy tracks and passages that were rocky, sometimes of volcanic nature, requiring caution. At the riders’ and drivers’ level, they encountered rocky formations that looked either formidable or inviting, according to preference, but which never gave a clear indication of which direction to choose. The navigation was tricky on the last part of the special, where taking care of tyres was especially important on the terrain made up of large gravel. Luciano Benavides avoided every single pitfall to dominate the stage on two wheels, as did Seth Quintero, who won for the second time in the week by one second ahead of Nasser Al Attiyah, who is back in the game.

OUTLINE

• Luciano Benavides has returned to the forefront, having not won a stage on the Dakar since 2023, which was his best year so far. Adrien Van Beveren was deprived of victory on the special by a penalty for speeding but climbed into 4^th place on the general rankings.
• Daniel Sanders’ position at the summit of the leaderboard has never been under threat. The Australian will be able to enjoy the rest day, with a lead of 6’52’’ over Tosha Schareina and 17’38’’ over Ross Branch. KTM, Honda, and Hero make up the provisional podium.
• After a tough day yesterday, Nasser Al Attiyah showed his true colours to regain ten minutes on all his rivals currently on the provisional podium. However, that is exactly the same time as the penalty he was given for reaching the bivouac with a missing spare wheel. As a result, the stage victory goes to Californian Seth Quintero, by the slimiest of advantages – just one second.
• Henk Lategan still leads the general rankings, with an advantage of 10’17’’ over Yazeed Al Rajhi and 20’54’’ over Mattias Ekstrom. The Qatari driver, who will have to wait to give the Dacia brand its first success on the Dakar, lies further back, 35 minutes behind the South African leader.
• Yasir Seaidan won for the first time in his career in the Challenger class at the finish in Ha’il. The Saudi no longer has a shot at overall victory but still wants to feature prominently in the race. Nicolás Cavigliasso has opened up a gap after taking advantage of the problems encountered by Corbin Leaverton. He now boasts a lead of 28 minutes over Gonçalo Guerreiro, his closest pursuer.
• In the SSV category, ‘Chaleco’ López is also still in the hunt for stage victories and picked up a second one today, beating Brock Hegger by 20 minutes. The American will not mind, because he leads the category on the rest day, with an advantage of 1 hour and 21 minutes over his Polaris team-mate Xavier de Soultrait.
• Martin Macík is unflappable behind the wheel of his truck, which was the fastest for the fourth consecutive stage, and he can no longer see Aleš Loprais and Vaidotas Žala in his rear-view mirror. His closest pursuer, Michel van den Brink, trails by almost two hours.

PERFORMANCE OF THE DAY

Let’s go back a few days, to relive an episode of Nasser Al Attiyah gently taunting Seth Quintero: “This race is for experienced guys, the youngsters will have to wait their turn,” was the teasing barb launched by the elder driver in the direction of the young man. The Toyota driver provided the best answer of all from behind his steering wheel by winning the first stage on the Dakar. Since then, he has met with too many setbacks to be able to fight for the highest honour at the end of the rally, but he put in another fine demonstration on the way to Ha’il today to pick up a second stage victory. The scenario is all the more comical given that Quintero beat none other than Al Attiyah by just one second on the day’s special and that the Qatari was not narrowly beaten by the American’s speed, but due to a penalty. The Dakar youth movement is well and truly on the march: bearing in mind that the 22-year-old has already won 20 Challenger class specials in his previous participations, his total is already impressive. At this rate, the American could soon rival Al Attiyah in statistical terms. Perhaps he will not have to wait until the age of 40 years old, as Nasser did in 2011, to lift his first Tuareg trophy; it would be unwise to bet against it.

A CRUSHING BLOW

Corbin Leaverton had high hopes of climbing onto the Dakar podium in the Challenger class on his first participation. Indeed, the Californian enjoyed an excellent beginning to the race, winning the prologue before finishing the first four stages in the top 5. However, the fifth was fatal to his ambitions. Placed in second in the general rankings, he encountered his first mishap of the week with a mechanical problem after 172 km. A similar stroke of bad luck struck his countryman Hunter Miller further on in the special. The SSV category rookie was in 9^th place in the general rankings. Another American, Sara Price, also saw her progress halted. Having already been eliminated from the fight for outright victory, she had a stage success in the SSV race within her grasp, before grinding to a halt 45 kilometers from the arrival. The three USA competitors will have the rest day to get over their troubles, before tackling the second week with the firm intention of making up for them.

STAT OF THE DAY 27

The competitors gobbled up 428 km today on a demanding special in which every second counted, as Nasser Al Attiyah can confirm. The Dacia Sandriders driver was the quickest to cross the finishing line, with a time of 4:22’54“, before receiving a 10-minute time penalty. As a result, Seth Quintero won by just one second! This tiny gap after 4 hours and 25 minutes of racing can be transposed into a distance of approximately 27 metres. To get a better visualisation, that equals 6 Dacia Sandriders lined up one behind another, which goes to show just what a tight finish it was…

Quote of the Day

Yazeed Al Rajhi: “The hardest first week of my career on the Dakar”

 Yazeed Al Rajhi, who finished 5th today behind Henk Lategan, the rally leader at the half-way point, has lost ground on the South African’s Hilux TGR in the general rankings. However, the Saudi driver is ready to pounce should the opportunity present itself, in 2nd position, 10’17’’

 “It wasn’t an easy stage. We opened the special for about the first 200 kilometres without taking any risks because we could hear a small noise coming from the back of the car, which we wanted to bring back to the bivouac in one piece before the second week, for which we have a good position. It was the hardest first week of my career on the Dakar. All the stages were long, tough and difficult everywhere. Last year, I was leading the race until the day before the rest day when the car rolled over due to a suspension problem. Today, we were close to the lead, with just a 10-minute gap, which is nothing. In the dunes, we are capable of doing very well”

The makings of classic

With the bare minimum of fuss, the Classic can already boast its own statistics. Leading the roll of honour for stage winners, Carlos Santaolalla arrived in Bisha with already 9 stage successes behind the wheel of his HDJ 80. He has now added 2 to bring his total to 11. Juan Morera, who kicked off proceedings this year, has 5 of them, while Lorenzo Traglio boasts 4 including the one achieved the day before yesterday. Today, Carlos and Lorenzo completed the return section with equal points, forcing the officials to consult the rule book to find out exactly how to decide between the two drivers: the one who could boast up to 12 victories this evening if it is title holder Santaolla or the man with 5 if it is given to his runner-up in 2024, Traglio. In the second case, the Italian will draw level with Porsche driver Morera. The Dakar Classic specialists are writing their own legend.

World Rally Raid Championship

The day’s winner Seth Quintero is not throwing in the towel, despite lagging behind in the general rankings. Drawing inspiration from the recent examples of Nasser Al Attiyah and Yazeed Al Rajhi, no later than on the 2024 edition of the Dakar, the kid has begun a hunt for stage points. With two victories and his podium finish on the stage before yesterday (as the 2^nd ranked W2RC competitor), the Californian has already acquired 14 points. This is exactly the same amount with which Yazeed Al Rajhi exited the race last year at this stage, before Nasser Al Attiyah left the rally two days later with 18 points. At the season’s end, the Qatari and Saudi drivers respectively finished on top of the pile and as runner-up. So, all the possibilities are open, all the more so if Quintero examines his own experience: in picking up only 5 stage points on the Dakar last year for his first season in the Ultimate class, the official Toyota driver completed his T1+ debut season in 6^th place in the world championship. At the age of 22 years, Seth has an old head on young shoulders: “The first week was pretty good for us, with a victory at the start and two second places, but on the other hand, we also lost 40 minutes on the 48 Chrono stage and with the punctures yesterday. All in all, it’s not too bad. Now, for us it will be upwards and onwards.”

ERGEBNISSE / Results – BIKES

OVERALL – BIKES

ERGEBNISSE / Results – Original by Motul

OVERALL – Original by Motul

ERGEBNISSE / Results – CARS

OVERALL – CARS

ERGEBNISSE / Results – CHALLENGER

OVERALL – CHALLENGER

ERGEBNISSE / Results – SSV

OVERALL – SSV

ERGEBNISSE / Results – TRUCKS

OVERALL – TRUCKS

ERGEBNISSE / Results – CLASSIC

Coming soon…

OVERALL – CLASSIC

Coming soon…

FULL RESULTS / ALLE ERGEBNISSE: LINK

GALLERY STAGE 5

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Quelle / Source: DAKAR, A.S.O