Dakar 2025 Heads Al Duwadimi as the rally resumes and Branch airlifted
12th January 2025The Dakar has returned for the second week of action as it heads south through the Saudi Arabian desert towards Al Duwadimi for stage six.
Feature image credit: Red Bull Content Pool
After a day’s rest, the Dakar and its competitors continued, covering a total of 829 km in a southern heading from Hail to Al-Duwadimi. However, it was not without issue as the Dakar resumed.
Hero Motorsport’s Ross Branch crashed out of the event on the stage. He was airlifted out of the stage thanks to being dazed and confused after his crash. As such, it passes Hero’s baton onto his teammate Jose Ignacio Cornejo Florimo, in eighth.
X-Raid Mini’s French crew of Guerlain Chicherit and Alex Winocq crashed 16km into the stage after the duo hit a dip in the desert which unsettled and rolled the Dakar-suited Mini. Thankfully, the crew were okay.
Australia’s Daniel Sanders remains the Bike class leader but it is a fairly close contest in the two-wheeled category. Monster Energy Honda rounded out the podium with Tosha Schareina and Adrien Van Beveren who replaced Branch in third. The top three are only separated by 19 minutes from Sanders to Van Beveren.
Stage 5 saw the Dakar move east towards Hail ahead of their well-deserved and much-earned rest day 👇#Dakar2025 / #DakarRally / #DakarInSaudi https://t.co/lXvE1mxaWg
— Apex Motorsports (@ApexMSPRT) January 10, 2025
Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings continue to front the car category with seven minutes in hand over second-placed Overdrive Racing’s Yazeed Al Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk. Ford M-Sport’s Mattias Ekstrom and Emil Bergkvist complete the podium positions in third, 22 minutes off the pace.
Sebastian Loeb Racing remains the SSV category’s class leader, with Brock Heger and Max Eddy leading the way ahead of teammates Xavier de Soultrait and Martin Bonnet. However, Francisco Lopez Contardo and Juan Pablo Latrach have taken third place for Can-AM Factory, overtaking Old Friends Rally’s Alexandre Pinto and Bernardo Oliveira.
Martin Macik, Frantisek Tomasek and David Svanda of MM Technology remain the Truck leaders ahead of Mitchel Van Den Brunk, Moises Torrallardona and Jarno Van De Pol of Eurol Rally Sport. Instatrade Loprais Team’s Ales Loprais, David Kripal and Darek Rodewald occupy third place.
Read more Rally Raid here:
- Dakar Rally 2025: Stage 5 completed as crews arrive in Hail to complete week 1
- Dakar 2025: Rally moves north as Sebastien Loeb rolls
- Dakar Rally 2025: 48H Chrono completed as Sainz retires
- Dakar Rally 2025: Quintero credited win as the iconic rally begins
- Dakar Rally 2024 – Stage 10: Alula loop maintains the title fight
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
