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Henk Lategan Leads Dakar Rally Prologue

Posted : 04 January 2025

South Africa’s Henk Lategan took the early lead in the Dakar Rally prologue on Friday, triumphing in the cars category. Driving his Toyota Hilux, Lategan completed the 29-kilometer prologue in Bisha with a time just one second faster than Sweden’s Mattias Ekstrom.

 

Qatar’s five-time Dakar champion, Nasser al-Attiyah, finished third. Although prologue times do not count toward the overall standings, the top 10 finishers earn the advantage of selecting their starting positions for the first full stage on Saturday, which will cover 499 kilometers, including 413 kilometers of timed sections.

 

Notable results in the car category also included Sebastien Loeb in seventh place. The nine-time world rally champion is aiming for his first Dakar victory in his ninth attempt. Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz, last year’s oldest winner at 61, struggled and placed 25th in the prologue.

 

The race, which stretches nearly 8,000 kilometers over 12 stages, will test the endurance of the competitors as they navigate the challenging terrain of Saudi Arabia.

 

In the motorbike category, Australia’s Daniel Sanders emerged as the fastest rider, topping the prologue on his KTM. He was followed by Botswana’s Ross Branch and Spanish teenager Edgar Canet. Reigning motorbike champion, Ricky Brabec of Honda, finished in fourth place.

 

A total of 778 competitors from 72 countries are participating in the event, which began in Bisha, and will culminate in Shubaytah on January 17. The route includes a particularly difficult 48-hour stage through the vast Empty Quarter desert, known for its endless sand dunes.

 

The Dakar Rally, while still carrying its iconic name, no longer finishes in Dakar, Senegal. Since 2020, the event has found a new home in Saudi Arabia, following security issues in Mauritania and the cancellation of the 2008 edition. Saudi Arabia has invested heavily in sports, aiming to diversify its economy away from oil and transform the kingdom into a major sporting hub, despite criticisms regarding its human rights record.

 

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