South Africa’s Henk Lategan faltered on the penultimate day of the gruelling 2025 Dakar Rally, leaving them 6min 11sec behind Saudi Arabia’s Yazeed Al Rajhi heading into the final stage.
Lategan and co-driver Brett Cummings in the Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa (TGRSA) pair lost 8:38 on Yazeed Al Rajhi and co-driver Timo Gottschalk on Stage 11 which not only wiped out their overnight lead of 2:27, but means they are now 6:11 behind.
With Stage 12 being nothing more than a ceremonial 61km stretch towards the Dakar Rally finish line in Shubaytah, Lategan all but conceded victory after getting out of his GR Hilux T1+ on Thursday.
“That was about what we could do. We could have pushed a bit more here and there and have taken more risk, but the car is in one piece and we didn’t miss any waypoints,” said the 30-year-old Lategan, whose best Dakar finish is fifth in 2023.
“It’s been a very good day for us and an awesome race.”