Yazeed Al-Rajhi claimed an emphatic victory in Stage 4 of Dakar Rally to move to second in the overall standings behind Henk Lategan, as Nasser Al-Attiyah hit trouble.
Having lost a heap of time in the third test of the rally on Tuesday, the local Saudi Al-Rajhi hit back in the 415km test between Al Henakiyah and Al-Ula to re-establish himself as one of the outright favourites.
Driving a customer Toyota Hilux for Overdrive, the 43-year-old led from start to finish over volcanic terrain and between the canyons of Al-Ula, extending his advantage to eight minutes at one point and ultimately taking his first stage win of 2025 by 4m51s.
Toyota’s Henk Lategan, Overdrive team-mate Toby Price and Century driver Marcelo Gistaldi all emerged as Al-Rajhi’s closest competitors throughout the day, but it was Lategan who delivered the most consistent performance as he cemented his lead in the overall standings.
Overdrive’s Juan Cruz Yacopini provisionally finished third and was closely followed by Jipocar Ford’s Martin Prokop and top X-raid Mini rider Denis Krotov, with Matthieu Serradori classified sixth for Century Racing.
Mitch Guthrie Jr emerged as Ford’s top finisher in seventh as team-mate Mattias Ekstrom had a low-key day en route to eighth despite seemingly not running into any issues.
But there was a double whammy for five-time Dakar winner Al-Attiyah, who first lost 10 minutes at the 97km marker due to a puncture before stopping again 20km later after a rear suspension problem.
It was only until his Dacia team-mate Cristina Gutierrez arrived at the scene that the Qatari could repair his Sandrider and get going again, but he dropped 33m despite a flying finish to the stage.
He wasn’t the only frontrunner to suffer a big blow to his victory hopes on Wednesday, as Toyota’s Seth Quintero, ex-motorcycle champion Price and Mini duo Guillaume de Mevius and Guerlain Chicherit all lost more than half an hour with separate issues.
All that drama has reshuffled the general classification in the Ultimate category.
Al-Rajhi is now second in the standings and just under seven minutes behind Lategan, with Ford’s Ekstrom 21m40s behind in third.
Serradori has climbed to fourth ahead of factory Toyota driver Lucas Moraes, who provisionally finished Wednesday’s fourth stage in 10th.
Al-Attiyah has dropped from second to seventh in the combined order, behind Guthrie Jr, and trails Lategan by over 35 minutes with eight stages still to run.
Dakar 2025 - Results after Stage 4 (Top 10)
| Pos | Driver | Car | Time/Gap |
| 1 | Henk Lategan | Toyota | 23h36m24s |
| 2 | Yazeed Al-Rajhi | Toyota | 6m54s |
| 3 | Mattias Ekstrom | Ford | 21m40s |
| 4 | Matthieu Serradori | Century | 30m25s |
| 5 | Lucas Moraes | Toyota | 33m25s |
| 6 | Mitch Guthrie Jr | Ford | 34m09s |
| 7 | Nasser Al-Attiyah | Dacia | 35m53s |
| 8 | Juan Cruz Yacopini | Toyota | 41m10s |
| 9 | Joao Ferreira | Mini | 1h11m07s |
| 10 | Urvo Mannama | Toyota | 1h17m36s |
