------ RED BULL DESERT WINGS --

A high-speed dash from Riyadh to Haradh was the mission on Stage 9 of the 2025 Dakar Rally. The 357-kilometre timed special stage served as a link between Saudi Arabia’s bustling capital city and the barren wilderness of the Empty Quarter Desert. This Dakar Rally has already travelled 6,500 kilometres, but with three stages left on the dunes the race is only getting started. Let’s check in to see who is giving off that main character energy

Five-time Dakar champion Nasser Al-Attiyah scored his first Ultimate class stage win of this rally as he left Riyadh with his foot to the floor of his Dacia Sandrider. The Qatari’s 49th stage win of his illustrious Dakar career puts him 30 seconds behind the Ford Raptor T1+ of Mattias Ekström who holds third place overall.

“We pushed all day on a very fast stage. Now we still have three days of racing left and we need to do our best on every kilometre.” – Nasser Al-Attiyah

In front of Ekström there was a change of Ultimate class leader on Stage 9 as Yazeed Al Rajhi leapt over Henk Lategan. Al Rajhi now leads Lategan by seven minutes with Ekström and Al-Attiyah jostling a further 18 minutes behind. Now come the final three stages of this Dakar with all remaining 500 kilometres hosted by the mighty sand dunes of the Empty Quarter. This contest is still as wide open as the desert plains where it will reach its fascinating conclusion.

“We got through another tricky stage and reached the finish line. Now we’ll keep fighting until the end.” – Mattias Ekström

Taking second on Stage 9 in the Ultimate class was Guillaume De Mévius at the wheel of his MINI. The Belgian is unlikely to repeat last year’s result of an overall podium but has been scoring very useful World Rally-Raid Championship points in the second week of this Dakar.

“Today we started behind so we knew we could push and try for a good time. That’s what we did and overall the stage was good for us.” – Guillaume De Mévius

Also landing themselves in the Top 10 of today’s Ultimate category stage were Rokas Baciuška (Toyota), Mitch Guthrie Jr. (Ford) and Cristina Gutiérrez (Dacia). Among this group of former Challenger class racers it’s Guthrie Jr. who maintains a realistic shot at parking on this year’s Ultimate class podium. The Californian racer is fifth overall, a little over 30 minutes behind Ford M-Sport team-mate Ekström.

“There were some really tough areas so we just tried to keep it together as best we could. We did a bit of circling around to find waypoints. I’m excited to get back into the dunes tomorrow.” – Mitch Guthrie Jr.

Despite the high-speed nature of today’s stage, it was not without its navigational challenges. Among those getting caught out on the way to Haradh were Toyota Gazoo Racing drivers Seth Quintero and Lucas Moraes.

“We got lost too many times today and ended up far behind. It was very tricky because all the pistes looked very similar. Tonight we’ll talk with the team to try and understand what happened so we can learn for the future.” – Lucas Moraes

Elsewhere in the convoy we're seeing some real teamwork from the likes of Dacia's Gutiérrez and Nani Roma of Ford as they put themselves at the service of their better placed team-mates.

“At the beginning I waited for my team-mates so we could support them if we were needed. Then we made some mistakes looking for waypoints and we lost some time. Now we arrive to the Empty Quarter and this has the potential to change everything.” – Nani Roma

In the bike race Luciano Benavides made it back-to-back stage wins on the route between Riyadh and Haradh. The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider has been steadily climbing the rankings since Rest Day and now finds himself seven minutes off the overall podium.

“I kept my focus on the roadbook all day and it was more of a mental challenge than anything else. The dunes are the terrain that I like the most so I can’t wait to go there tomorrow.” – Luciano Benavides

Benavides’s Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team-mate Daniel 'Chucky' Sanders has bossed the two-wheel contest at this Dakar since the Prologue Stage. The Australian is now bringing a lead of 14m45s over second placed Tosha Schareina to the Empty Quarter Desert.

“It was a good start but after the first neutralisation section we came into somewhere that I remembered from other years. The dirt was really white so I couldn’t see the tracks properly. Navigation was tough so I was just trying to make sure I was on the right spots.” – Daniel Sanders
In the Rally2 class there was a fifth stage win for rookie Edgar Canet who continues to impress on debut. Canet’s closest Rally2 competitor is Tobias Ebster and the pair are also riding high in the general classification of the bike race, both occupying spots in the overall Top 10. There was drama for Ebster on Stage 9, stopping at the scene of fellow biker Romain Dumontier’s crash.

“I stopped when a friend of mine crashed hard 190km into the stage. After that my electronic roadbook wasn’t working properly so it was a frustrating day. We now have three more days left so we must keep going.” – Tobias Ebster

In the Challenger class there’s still pressure being applied on race leader Nicolas Cavigliasso by Gonçalo Guerreiro of the Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team. The Portuguese rookie has consistently kept the gap between his Taurus T3 Max and the front of the race to under 30 minutes and wants to get as close as he can in the dunes.

“This is Dakar, it doesn’t matter how fast you are if you can’t find the right way to go. Now it’s the dunes and I have no fear, let’s go!” – Gonçalo Guerreiro

Guerreiro is joined in the Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team by fellow rookie Corbin Leaverton. The American racing driver found himself in the thick of the action on Stage 9 of the Challenger contest.

“The navigation was so tough and us guys at the front were looking for these hidden waypoints. We were doing donuts and nearly hitting each other. It was crazy.” – Corbin Leaverton

Also completing another tough stage were the Taurus T3 Max machines driven by Pau Navarro and Dania Akeel. Saudi Arabian driver Akeel will be hoping that local knowledge of the dunes proves invaluable over the coming days.

In the SSV class Francisco ‘Chaleco’ López is tonight celebrating his fourth stage win of this Dakar. The Chilean is third overall, but wants to climb one or two places in the rankings on the remaining three stages.

“It was a very difficult day. One or two waypoints were especially hard to find. Now we switch our focus to the dunes for the final three days.” – Francisco ‘Chaleco’ López

If you’re looking at Stage 10’s distance of just 123km and thinking that the rally organisers are being too kind to the competitors, think again! We’re now deep into the Empty Quarter Desert and the final three days of this Dakar will be raced exclusively in this region, which is home to sand dunes of up to 250m high.

Source: Red Bull Desert Wings
Photo: Dakar 2025: Stage 9 points the 2025 Dakar Rally in the direction of the dunes