Al-Rajhi wins Dakar Rally at 11th attempt and Sanders sews up motorbike domination

SHUBAYTAH, Saudi Arabia (AP) - Yazeed Al-Rajhi became the first Saudi to win the Dakar Rally when he completed the race on home sand on Friday.

After 13 days of desert racing and more than 5,000 kilometers of specials, Al-Rajhi beat home Henk Lategan of South Africa by less than four minutes, the smallest margin in 15 years.

Daniel Sanders won the motorbike crown, the second Australian champion after two-time winner and mentor Toby Price.

Sanders won the first three stages and was never caught. He’s the first rider to dominate from start to finish since Spain’s Marc Coma in 2009 when the rally was in Argentina and Chile.

Lategan led the car standings for a week by capitalizing on consistency. He appeared to cement victory on Monday when he won the eighth stage. But a navigation error on Tuesday opened the door for Al-Rajhi as the race entered the Empty Quarter dunes.

Lategan rebounded on Wednesday when Al-Rajhi got stuck in a hollow. But Al-Rajhi's superior expertise in dunes gave him the decisive break on Thursday.

He won at his 11th attempt after completing the brief 12th and last stage back to Shubaytah on Friday. His German co-driver Timo Gottschalk claimed his second Dakar title: He helped navigate Nasser Al-Attiyah to victory in 2011.

Their final margin over Lategan was 3:57, the smallest in the Dakar since 2010, when Stephane Peterhansel beat Al-Attiyah by 2:12 in Argentina and Chile.

"I am very, very happy to do it, it is not an easy race, it’s the toughest one that I’ve done in the last 11 years," Al-Rajhi said. "Me and Timo and my team did a great job like always."

Sweden’s Mattias Ekström was third, 20 minutes back. Like Al-Rajhi and Lategan, Ekström earned a personal best finish, and held off five-time champion Al-Attiyah by 3 1/2 minutes.

Al-Attiyah was forced to drive hard after a 10-minute penalty on stage five for losing his spare wheel, and was undone by navigation errors. It’s the first time he’s failed to finish on the podium in a race he’s completed in 18 years.

Sanders won the Dakar at his fifth attempt. He was fourth and the best rookie on debut in 2021.

"When I came out of the dunes … I could see the bivouac and I just got instant chills through my whole body, I was super nervous. I couldn't believe it. All the emotions started coming through and I could see the finishing line," he said.

"To win the six-day international enduro and now the Dakar, it's just ticked off all the goals for my career. After the last three years of a lot of lows, now we’ve got the up, so all the hard work has paid off."

Spain’s Tosha Schareina, second to Sanders since stage four, completed his best finish, nearly nine minutes back.

France’s Adrien van Beveren, second last year, was third, nearly 15 minutes off the pace. Defending champion Ricky Brabec was fifth, nearly 30 minutes behind.