Nineteen-year-old Saood Variawa of South Africa became the youngest top-class driver to win a stage in the Dakar Rally.

(Reuters) -Nine-times world rally champion Sebastien Loeb is out of the Dakar Rally after he rolled his Dacia in the Saudi desert on Tuesday as the race continued to take a toll of the big names after the exit of 2024 winner Carlos Sainz.

There’s no easing into the 2025 Dakar Rally, as organisers have thrown some of the biggest challenges at competitors immediately. Stage 2 is the notorious 48-hour Chrono and tonight the convoy sleeps out in the desert,

Al Rajhi secures victory in 2-day second stage in car class, while Daniel Sanders triumphs in bike class - Anadolu Ajansı

Lithuanian driver Rokas Baciuška has proved he’s a contender in the Dakar Rally after winning the longest stage in the Saudi Arabia desert.

Local favourite Yazeed Al-Rajhi won the 48-hour second stage of the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia on Monday, despite a penalty for speeding, as South African Henk Lategan took the overall lead for the factory Toyota team.

Carlos Sainz's defence of his Dakar Rally title ended prematurely on Monday when the Spaniard was forced to pull out after the marathon 48-hour stage won by Lithuanian driver Rokas Baciuska."It's the end of the adventure for four-time Dakar winner and defending champion Carlos Sainz and his co-driver Lucas Cruz.

Lithuanian driver Rokas Baciuška proved he's a contender in the Dakar Rally when he won the longest stage in the Saudi Arabia desert on Monday. Baciuška was 22 minutes off the lead starting the second half of the two-day,

Saudi driver Yazeed Al Rajhi held on to his overnight lead to win the second stage of the Dakar 2025 rally on Monday, the fearsome '48-hour Chrono' while defending champion Carlos Sainz limped in 1h 30min behind.

Yazeed Al-Rajhi came out on top in the 48-hour chrono stage at the Dakar Rally as Henk Lategan took the overall lead. Toyota privateer Al-Rajhi finished with a time of 10h32m54s, 4m29s up on Dacia's Nasser Al-Attiyah after the duo pulled clear on the first day of the mammoth stage.