With the 29-kilometer prologue stage in the Saudi town of Bisha, the Dakar Rally 2025 has officially started. Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz, at the wheel of the Ford Raptor T1+, finished the special stage in 25th place, in a stage that they approached calmly. This special stage was used to determine the starting order for tomorrow’s stage.
Carlos Sainz: “The prologue went well, without any problems. We took it easy. The time does not count and tomorrow I think we will start fourth or fifth. Tomorrow’s day is important; we will have to decide what strategy we will follow for the 48-hour stage. Starting fifth doesn’t matter to me; the main thing is to get it right tomorrow and, of course, to get through the 48-hour stage as well as possible”.
Tomorrow’s stage: BISHA > BISHA
Liaison > 86 km – Special > 413 km
This is a stage with an extremely varied terrain, so the key will lie in knowing how to adapt to the new terrain. In addition to the sand, the vehicles will have to cope with different surfaces and changing rhythms, especially when the big rocks appear. Towards the halfway point of the special stage, the navigators will encounter sections with numerous crossroads, which promises to give them a few headaches. Concentration and cool-headedness will be the main tools here.
Stage classification
- Henk Lategan (Toyota) 15.28.06
- Mattias Ekström (Ford) +00.01
- Nasser Al-Attiyah (Dacia) +00.20
- Rokas Baciuska (Overdrive) +00.21
- Carlos Sainz – Lucas Cruz (Ford Raptor T1+) +01.14