Toyota Hilux wins Dakar Rally 2025

The Dakar rally throughout the years never falls short of challenges that surprise even the most experienced teams and drivers. For the 2025 edition held in the Saudi Arabian desert, it’s Toyota that overcame the odds to clinch a 1-2 victory.

Yazeed Al-Rajhi and co-driver Timo Gottschalk in a customer Toyota Hilux entry have outgunned Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Hank Lategan after two weeks of grueling competition, making Al-Rajhi the first driver to lift the Touareg trophy on home soil, and the first time in 25 years that a customer team has managed to win the Dakar.

With this year’s favorites such as Carlos Sainz and Sebastien Loeb retiring early in the rally while newcomers Ford and Dacia are still finding their footing on cross-country rallying, Toyota Gazoo Racing had the highest chance of victory as it fielded five factory cars.

Hank Lategan in the factory Hilux led most of the way but as luck and circumstances would play out, Al-Rajhi in the Overdrive racing Hilux brought it home with a lead of just 3 minutes and 57 seconds. After a spectacular accident last year, while being in the lead in the penultimate stages, the Saudi billionaire has finally pulled it off at his 11th attempt of the Dakar.

Coming in third was Mattias Ekstrom who scored Ford’s podium in its first full-fledged entry in the Dakar rally with the Raptor. Former Dakar rally winner Nasser Al-Attiyah in his Dacia Sandrider finished fourth in the standings.