Fierce accident on 48-hour Dakar stage involving Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk puts an end to all dreams of victory for the leaders of the car classification
At the 2024 Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia, the infamous 48-hour stage, held for the first time, ended the hopes of victory for the leaders in the car classification
Yazeed Al-Rajhi and co-driver Timo Gottschalk (Overdrive-Toyota) had a serious accident on the first part of the two-day stage (stage 6A). According to information from the team, both the driver from Saudi Arabia and the co-driver from Germany escaped with a scare despite suffering a few injuries.
What happened? The marathon stage takes the Dakar participants through the “Empty Quarter” on Thursday and Friday. In this desert in the south-east of Saudi Arabia, the Toyota Hilux of Al-Rajhi/Gottschalk was jack-knifed and rolled over several times. It was not possible to repair the damaged vehicle. The participants are on their own on the 48-hour stage and have to manage without service personnel.
“We were leveraged out by a small bump and rolled over several times. We weren’t driving wildly and didn’t risk too much, on the contrary. Nevertheless, things like this can happen in our sport, it’s part of the game,” says Yazeed Al-Rajhi, who admits: “We are obviously extremely disappointed. “
Co-driver Timo Gottschalk says: “Half a meter more to the right or left and nothing would have happened. But that’s how cross-country rallies are. We are obviously bitterly disappointed to have to give up our dream of victory while leading. But we’re also glad that we proved that we can not only keep up with the pace, but also set it. Now we hope to be able to start again in the second week and collect championship points. That will be decided in the bivouac. “
The accident happened on Thursday at kilometer 51. Just two kilometers earlier, Al-Rajhi/Gottschalk were not only still leading the overall Dakar classification, but were also virtually ahead of the competition on the current stage 6A.
Due to Al-Rajhi’s crash, Nasser Al-Attiyah (Prodrive) and Carlos Sainz (Audi) are now battling for the lead. Sainz’ Audi team-mate Stephane Peterhansel was reported as stationary at kilometer 225 with a suspected technical problem.
The 48-hour stage in the “Empty Quarter” comes to an end on Friday evening. The finish of this year’s Dakar Rally will take place the following Friday (January 19) in Yanbu on the Red Sea.