Toyota dominates the Dakar 2025 prologue in Saudi Arabia

The 47th edition of the Dakar started with a 29-kilometer prologue near Bisha, Saudi Arabia. This stage, designed to define the starting order for the first full day, tested both the technical capacity of the vehicles and the drivers' skills on terrain that combined dirt, gravel, and sand. In this opening, Toyota Gazoo Racing took the lead thanks to the performance of Henk Lategan, who, behind the wheel of the Hilux T1+, secured first place against 64 participants in the Ultimate category.

Toyota and Ford take the lead

Henk Lategan, representing the South African team of Toyota Gazoo Racing, set a time of 15 minutes and 28.06 seconds, narrowly beating Mattias Ekstrom, driving a Ford Raptor, by just 1.3 seconds. Both drivers outpaced newcomer Nasser Al-Attiyah from Dacia, who recorded a time of 15 minutes and 48.4 seconds in his Sandrider. The close battle between these drivers marked a competitive start to the prologue, while the rest of the teams worked to make their mark in this short but decisive stage.

Prologue highlights

The fourth place went to Rokas Baciuska, driving a Toyota managed by Overdrive, just one second behind Al-Attiyah. Brian Baragwanath from Century Racing rounded out the top five. Meanwhile, Sébastien Loeb, driving for Dacia, finished sixth, a solid result to start his participation in this edition.

Toyota maintained a strong presence in the top ten, with Lucas Moraes and Saood Variawa finishing seventh and ninth, respectively. Between them was Nani Roma, driving for Ford. The tenth spot went to Guerlain Chicherit, competing with a Mini X-Raid, securing his position to choose a good starting place for the next stage.

A prologue full of surprises

The debut of Toby Price in the car category was notable. Driving a Toyota Overdrive, he finished in eleventh place, close to the top ten. Meanwhile, drivers such as Seth Quintero and Guy Botterill, also with Toyota, ranked 15th and 17th, respectively, while Cristina Gutiérrez closed with the last vehicle from Dacia.

The defending champion, Carlos Sainz, started quietly in his first race with Ford, finishing in 24th place, a result that will require a comeback in the upcoming stages.

Looking ahead to the first full stage

Although the prologue does not count towards the total times, positions outside the top ten will determine the starting order for the first official stage, a 412-kilometer timed section around Bisha. This will mark the true start of the challenge, where drivers will test their vehicles' endurance and strategies in extreme terrain.