2025 Dakar Stage 9 results – a new race leader

Henk Lategan’s (Toyota Gazoo Racing) has been in the lead of the 2025 Dakar Rally almost since the start. The SA driver has been keeping a good pace to manage his lead. However, he lost a chunk of time, through no fault of his own, earlier this week (as you can read here).

Keen to set the record straight, Lategan turned up the pace and won stage eight. However, this meant that he was the first man on the road for 2025 Dakar stage 9. This usually results in lost time. Today’s stage was the last of the really long jaunts. Racers had to contend with 357 km of timed section as well as a 232 km liaison section before reaching the overnight stop in Haradh.

Guy Botterill was playing support for his teammate Lategan. He was setting decent times through the stage. However, the man who finished second yesterday had a major shunt late in the day, which left his Hilux no longer able to proceed. Thankfully, the crew were all okay, but they will play no further part in the 2025 edition of the Dakar Rally. Check out the damage in the video below.

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