Ekstrom leads on the penultimate day, and Al-Rajhi is getting closer to victory

Ford driver Mattias Ekstrom was fastest within the penultimate stage of the Dakar Rally on Thursday, with Overdrive's Yazeed Al-Rajhi taking a commanding lead over Toyota factory rival Henk Lategan.

During the ultimate major test of Dakar 2025, competitors needed to traverse 275km of dunes through Saudi Arabia's famous Empty Quarters before stopping overnight in Shubayth.

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Lategan entered the weather-delayed stage with a lead of two:27 seconds in the final classification, however the South African's difficult run tipped the scales in favor of Al-Rajhi, who now looks set for a maiden rally victory.

Saudi driver Al-Rajhi, Ekstrom and Dacia star Nasser Al-Attiyah were in a category of their very own on stage 11, losing almost 10 minutes of advantage over their closest rivals on the finish line.

Five-time Dakar winner Al-Attiyah maintained his early lead in the brand new 2025 Dacia Sandrider before Ekstrom overtook his Ford Raptor by 94km.

Al-Rajhi took second place in his customer Toyota Hilux and about halfway through the gap he reduced his advantage to lower than a minute, while Al-Attiyah was 4 minutes behind for unknown reasons.

Al-Attiyah put lots of effort into the ultimate a part of the day to scale back the gap again, but Ekstrom held his position until the forty first second to take his fifth profession stage win within the Dakar.

#200 Dacia Sandriders Dacia: Nasser Al-Attiyah, Edouard Boulanger

Photo: Red Bull Content Pool

The result gave rookie Ford back-to-back stage wins, with the Swede's teammate Nani Roma triumphing on stage 10 on Wednesday.

Al-Rajhi held second place for many of the day, but fell behind the charging Al-Attiyah on the penultimate checkpoint.

However, third place was still a great result for the local favorite, and overnight leader Lategan finished 10m23 seconds off the lead in fifth place, behind second-placed Ford Mitch Guthrie Jr.

This means the 43-year-old is back at the highest of the final classification, 6 minutes and 11 seconds ahead of Lategan and just 61 km from the finish on Friday.

Ekstrom looks set to take the general podium for the primary time in 4 attempts, 4 minutes and 16 seconds behind chasing Al-Attiyah after Thursday.

Guthrie Jr strengthened his fifth place within the rankings, while Century's Mathieu Serradori also moved into sixth place after ending contained in the top 10 on Thursday.

X-raid driver Joao Ferreira stays the highest-placed Mini rider overall, ending eighth behind Overdrive's Juan Cruz Yacopini.

Dakar 2025 – Classification after stage 11 (Top 10)