Why defending champion Yazeed Al-Rajhi retired from…

Last year, Yazeed Al-Rajhi made history by becoming the first Saudi driver to win the Dakar Rally in the car category. Together with navigator Timo Gottschalk, the pair began the defence of their title on 3 January in Yanbu but, after just four stages, that mission has come to an early end.

During the first part of the marathon stage, which started in Al-Ula, Al-Rajhi failed to reach the bivouac. After 234 km, he withdrew from the stage and, with that, from the rally. Initially, the Dakar organisers reported that technical problems cause the exit, but this doesn't tell the full story.

In the first half of stage four, Al-Rajhi and Gottschalk suffered three punctures, which resulted in significant time loss. For the Overdrive Racing crew, it marked the second time in four competitive stages that they lost large chunks of time, having already encountered similar issues in the opening stage.

Compounding the situation, both driver and navigator suffered broken vertebrae in a crash during the Baja Jordan event in April 2025. While those injuries had largely healed, they decided not to take further physical risks once any hope of a top result was gone.

#201 Overdrive Racing Toyota Hilux Overdrive: Yazeed Al-Rajhi, Timo Gottschalk (Photo by: A.S.O.)

“The additional heavy time losses today led me to end the Dakar Rally early,” Al-Rajhi explained, adding that the health for both himself and Gottschalk took priority.

“My back injuries were sufficiently healed before Dakar, but not completely. Putting that recovery process at risk without any chance of a top result didn’t feel right. That’s why a full recovery is now the highest priority.”

It is a decision Gottschalk fully supports, although the German navigator admitted his disappointment that the title defence never truly got going.

“The Dakar Rally didn’t unfold the way we had hoped, and the title defence slipped out of reach very quickly,” Gottschalk said. “Against that background, it is wiser not to jeopardise the full recovery from last year’s back injuries and to come back fighting in upcoming rallies.”

He added that the pace was clearly there, pointing to their performance in Dakar 2026. “We have shown that we have the speed.”