LATEGAN/CUMMINGS RETAKE DAKAR 2025 LEAD WITH TWO STAGES TO GO

• Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings back into Dakar lead after Stage 10
• Lucas Moraes and Armand Monleon fastest of the TGR crews today
• Seth Quintero and Dennis Zenz remain in Top 10 overall

Stage 10 of Dakar 2025 was a continuation of the ding-dong battle between TOYOTA GAZOO Racing’s Henk Lategan and co-driver Brett Cummings (#211) and Yazeed Al Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk in their privately-entered Toyota Hilux. The works GR Hilux EVO crew bested their rivals by 9min 36sec over the 120km dune-filled stage to retake the lead of the rally. The TGR crew is now 2min 27sec clear in the overall standings, with just two stages to go.

Today’s stage was a strategic battle for the top crews, as the starting position for Stage 11 may prove pivotal in the outcome of the rally. Both Al Rajhi and Lategan managed their pace over the dunes, trying to set fast stage times without finishing among the leaders on the stage. Stage 11 is a relatively long one at 275km, and the cars will again be following their own route, without the benefit of motorbikes to find the way.

- Advertisement -

For Lategan/Cummings, Stage 10 brought redemption after a tough outing on Stage 9, where they lost the lead of the rally by more than 7min, due to a navigational error near the start of the stage. Today, the multiple South African Rally-Raid (SARRC) Champions hit back, retaking the lead and setting the rally up for a spectacular showdown in Shubaytah.

Lucas Moraes and co-driver Armand Monleon (#203) set the fastest time for TGR on Stage 10. The pair came in just 18sec behind the winners in the Ultimate category, and they are in the Top 15 overall – 4h 56min 19sec behind the lead. They will be starting second on the road tomorrow.

Further back, Seth Quintero and Dennis Zenz (#204) finished the stage just 7min 7sec behind the winners, despite getting stuck in the treacherously soft sand. This cost them the best part of 5min on the day, but they remain in 8th place in the overall standings – 1h 36min 45sec behind the lead. The gap to the car ahead of them has now grown to 3min 45sec, but the crew will be aiming to improve on their position during tomorrow’s stage.

Stage 10 also brought some frustration for Saood Variawa and co-driver Francois Cazalet in the #218 GR Hilux EVO. The pair started off at a good pace, but ran into the dust of a slower competitor mid-stage. They were unable to get past the car in front, and lost time as a result. They finished 10min 6sec behind the leaders, but are looking forward to the long dune stage which follows tomorrow.

With only two stages remaining in this year’s Dakar Rally, Toyota finds itself in an excellent position, with two cars at the head of the field. The rally has been known to hold a sting in its tail, however, and the closing stages may well bring some surprises. The rally will end near the hamlet of Shubaytah on Friday, 17 January, after nearly 8,000km and 14 days of racing.

QUOTES:

Henk Lategan: “It’s difficult for me to judge the pace in the sand. I’m more used to the gravel, and I know when I’m going quick and when I’m not. In the sand, I have no idea. Hopefully, there’s a few guys behind us that can be a little bit quicker than us so that they can slot in front of us on the road for tomorrow’s stage. Here in the dunes, and especially because there’s no bikes tomorrow, the front guys lose a lot of time. It’s almost impossible to have any depth perception in the dunes during the middle of the day, so having tracks to follow helps a lot.”

Lucas Moraes: “Yeah, very short stage but very intense. Very, very, very intense. It was nice, after yesterday, to get a clean stage today. We were bouncing around, hitting our heads pretty hard on the sides of the seat. But hey, we are here, and I think we are P2, so some points for the championship.”

Seth Quintero: “Not such a good day for us. We started off okay and we were catching the guys in front of us, but unfortunately ended up getting stuck for about five minutes, and that cost us big time. So, unfortunate there, but I guess a better start for tomorrow. And hopefully we still scored a couple of points today.”

Saood Variawa: “If I compare myself to the start of the Dakar with the dunes, I’ve obviously progressed a lot and I’m really happy with how I went today. The last 30 km we were stuck behind a very slow competitor. We started six cars behind him, but we caught him and we got on his bumper, but he just didn’t let us by. We lost quite a bit of time, but I’m still happy with our performance for a full dune stage.”

Dakar Rally 2025 – Stage 10 Results (Ultimate Class)

 Dakar Rally 2025 – Standings after Stage 10 (Ultimate Class)