Summarize

South African champions Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings’ Toyota Gazoo Hilux emerged fastest of all from the 2025 Dakar Cars Prologue to take first choice on his starting order for Saturday’s first real stage. The duo, who sat last year’s race out after Lategan was injured, bounced back in style to beat Swedish Audi defectors, Mattias Ekström and Emil Bergkvist’s Ford Raptor, and Qatari 5-time Dakar winner Nasser Al-Attiyah and Frenchman Edouard Boulanger Dacia Sandrider.

It may have been a quick jaunt around the dunes near the Bisha, Saudi Arabia Start Bivouac, but there was no holding back on Friday’s Prologue as the top ten cars and bikes chose their all-important starting positions for Saturday’s first stage of real racing. 

Lategan and Cummings thus gain first choice over Ekström and Bergkvist, and Al-Attiyah and Boulanger. Behind them, Lithuanians Rokas Baciuska and Oriol Mena were fourth in their Hilux from another rapid South African crew, Brian Baragwanath and Leonard Cremer’s Made in SA Century CR7, and French WRC legend, Sébastien Loeb and Fabian Lurquin’s Dacia. 

Brazilian Lucas Moraes and Armand Monleon’s Gazoo Hilux was next ahead of Nani Roma and Alex Haro’s Ford Raptor. Another South African, Saood Variawa and Frenchman Francois Cazalet followed in their Toyota Gazoo Hilux ahead of Guerlain Chicherit and Alex Winocq’s Mini.

Expect to see those top ten crews starting more or less in reverse order, in order to avoid opening the road on Saturday, although the cars do have the advantage of running behind the bikes on that 413 km stage. Dakar 2025 however features five stages where the cars and bikes race alone, so navigation will be crucial on four wheels this year.

Multiple bike winning legends, Aussie Toby Price and Brit Sam Sunderland were eleventh on their car debut in a Hilux, from Czech duo Martin Prokop and Viktor Chytka’s privateer Raptor.

Also of South African interest, German Daniel Schröder and South African Henry Köhne were a stunning provisionally 14th in their brand new WCT Amarok, Gazoo Hilux crews Guy Botterill and Dennis Murphy’s were 17th and Giniel de Villiers, German Dirk von Zitzewitz 21st on a day where several big guns were conspicuous by their absence, and likely more intent on having solid tracks to follow on Saturday.

335 machines started the 47th Dakar, comprising 580 riders, drivers and co-drivers from 52 countries around the world. 64 cars set off in the Ultimate class, two in the Stock class, along with 52 Challengers, 39 Side by Sides and 44 trucks. Friday’s 413 first full stage is a dirt, gravel and sand track loop around Bisha.