Local hero Yazeed Al-Rajhi secured his first Dakar title on Friday, finishing the 12-stage rally almost four minutes ahead of his closest competitor Henk Lategan, while Red Bull KTM's Daniel Sanders maintained his lead to win in the motorcycle category.

Yazeed Al-Rajhi has become the first Saudi to win the Dakar Rally after completing the race on home sand in Shubaytah.

The 2025 Dakar Rally concluded on Friday, with Saudi Arabia's Yazeed Al Rajhi in cars and Australia's Daniel Sanders in bikes being crowned champions. Lucas Moraes in cars and Michael Docherty in bikes won the 61-kilometer 12th stage in Shubaytah.

The Dakar Rally has been held in several countries since its inaugural edition in 1979, but no driver had managed to lift the Touareg trophy on home soil until Yazeed Al-Rajhi this year. The Saudi driver won an atypical 2025 event in which a number of favourites fell by the wayside early on,

Dakar Rally has concluded after 14 gruelling days and nearly 8,000km. Toyota privateer Yazeeh Al-Rajhi emerged as a surprise winner in the cars class, becoming the very first Saudi Arabian driver to win the Dakar Rally,

Rajhi becomes the first driver to win on home soil since Pierre Lartigue won the Paris to Dakar to Paris rally in 1994.

Saudi Arabia's Yazeed al-Rajhi made history by becoming the first Saudi driver to win the Dakar Rally. Read More: Al Nassr to Announce a New Contract for Cristiano Ronaldo Al-Rajhi beat South Africa's Henk Lategan in a Toyota by 3m 57s,