Sainz still in contention for 2025 Dakar win despite…

Ford insists Carlos Sainz Sr still has all to play for in the 2025 Dakar Rally despite losing heaps of time in a crash during the 48-hour chrono stage on Sunday.

Having just crossed the seventh checkpoint at the 325km mark, Sainz’s Ford Raptor flipped over and landed on its roof over sand, leaving him stranded in the Saudi desert.

His team-mate Mitch Guthrie Jr arrived on the scene soon after to provide assistance, with the American supplying a rope that helped Sainz to get all four wheels of the car back on the ground.

The rear of the Raptor sustained severe damage in the incident and the Spaniard had to remove major chunks of bodywork before setting off once again.

The four-time Dakar winner lost over 20 minutes in the stoppage and eventually brought his hobbled car to Bivouac E in 25th place, almost an hour down on pacesetter Yazeed Al-Rajhi of Overdrive Toyota.

He sits 22nd in the overall classification, facing a deficit of 49m33s ahead of the second part of Stage 2 on Monday.

Malcolm Wilson, team director of M-Sport Ford, revealed the cause of the accident and provided a detailed account of the state of the car following the stoppage.

“Carlos, unfortunately, had a problem at around kilometre 327,” he explained. “At that point, he was in first or second place, we're not sure, so he was opening up the track.

‘He was on a dune and they landed upside down, with the roof of the car on the ground. Mitch managed to help him, and then he stopped for a while to obviously move some damaged parts and that sort of thing.

#225 Ford M-Sport Ford: Carlos Sainz, Lucas Cruz (Photo by: A.S.O.)

“It looks like, from what we've seen, there's no structural damage. It's been running at a reasonable pace, flat out after the accident.

“[All Ford cars] will be together and hopefully we'll have a chance to implement repairs. Then, the most important thing is to bring him back tomorrow, and from what seems to have been lost, it's maybe around an hour, which on the second stage of the Dakar is a lot, but there's a long way to go.”

The incident occurred shortly after Sainz had crossed a dune around Bisha in Saudi Arabia, although his car landed on relatively flat and sandy terrain.

The 62-year-old was unlucky that the crash took place during the marathon stage, where external assistance from crews is limited.

The Ford's windshield was broken on co-driver Lucas Cruz' side, with Cruz having to hold his door shut over 291 kilometres during the remainder of the day.

Helped by other Ford runners, Sainz is now ensuring the car is in good enough shape before completing the second part of Stage 2 on Monday morning; the engine, suspensions, gearbox and chassis are reported to be undamaged.

“Today has been quite a complicated stage,” Sainz said. “After rolling over on a cut dune, we were able to continue thanks to the help of our team-mate Mitchell, but then we had more problems: the car was overheating, we couldn't see well because of the broken glass and we punctured. The day went from bad to worse.”

#226 Ford M-Sport Ford: Mattias Ekstrom, Emil Bergkvist (Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool)

Despite Sainz’s troubles, Ford is still looking competitive on its full factory debut in Dakar, with Mattias Ekstrom holding fourth place in the general standings and Nani Roma running in seventh place.

“Nani [Roma] went very well, at one point he and Mattias were very close,” Wilson added. “It seems that towards the end, before everyone stopped at the service area, he lost a bit of time in each sector.

“Maybe he's had two knocks and taken precautions, so, if that's the case, hopefully he can repair the tyres tonight and be in better shape for tomorrow. Let's see when we hear from him, he's had another strong day and he's not that far off the leaders.”