The first 24 hours of the Chrono Stage were smooth sailing for Yazeed Al-Rajhi as he set the fastest FIA time, a welcome change after he rolled in the same leg last year. On the other hand, the crash bug seems to have made its way to last year’s winner Carlos Sainz as he found himself upside down.

Sainz rolled at KM 325, suffering serious damage to the body. Ford teammate Mitch Guthrie arrived and pulled him back on his wheels, after which Sainz managed to bring the Raptor to Break Point E. However, he is nearly an hour behind Al-Rajhi.

Being a 48-hour stage with marathon rules, the Chrono Stage was bound to bring chaos. While not as bizarre as Stage #1, Sainz was not the only victim of the two-day stage. Fellow contender Sébastien Loeb had a mechanical that forced Dacia colleague Cristina Gutiérrez to come to his rescue and provide some parts to help.

Two dampers on the left rear, another on the right right, and a fourth on the left front broke on Tim and Tom Coronel’s Century CR7 early on. Their car kept sinking into the sand without a sturdy rear suspension, and they ended up driving for half an hour in the dark with hose clamps attached in order to stay afloat before reaching Break Point D.

Dakar rookies Gediminas Šatkus and Mathieu Feuvrier saw their debuts cut short by crashes that broke their collarbones. Simon Marčič avoided injury when he was thrown off his bike after hitting a rock at KM 80 while passing another rider, though the handlebar on his Husqvarna was destroyed; this forced him to withdraw from the race with plans of rejoining for Stage #5.

Even Al-Rajhi had a snag of his own with an oil leak in his engine, though he and Timo Gottschalk hope to get it resolved by Monday. Still, he and Nasser Al-Attiyah’s decisions to sandbag in Stage #1 to ensure they won’t have to start up front for the Chrono Stage seemed to pay off as they finished the day first and second.

On the other hand, Stage #1 winner Seth Quintero and many of Saturday’s top finishers struggled without a track to follow. Quintero ended up setting the 24th quickest time in Ultimate on Sunday. Mohammed Al-Balooshi did not win the first stage on the bike side but still opened the Chrono following an invert, only for a roadbook glitch to cost him time.

For 2025, the Chrono Stage introduced a special pit area at KM 168 for cars, giving teams time to make repairs and other changes before heading back out. This was particularly imperative as the stage otherwise employs marathon rules that forbid crews form providing help.

Once time expired at 5 PM, competitors must report to their nearest Break Point to camp out for the night with meager supplies. For food, they were given rations of muesli, soup, energy bars, a self-heating food bag, utensils, and a hot drink mix.

Stage #2 leaders after Day #1

FIA

Class	Overall	Number	Driver	Team	Break Point	Time
Ultimate	1	201	Yazeed Al-Rajhi	Overdrive Racing	E	6:57:03
Challenger	29	301	Nicolás Cavigliasso	BBR Motorsport	D	7:34:09
SSV	31	425	Brock Heger*	Sébastien Loeb Racing	D	7:40:25
Stock	130	501	Ronald Basso*	Team Land Cruiser Toyota Auto Body	A	9:34:50
Truck	47	600	Martin Macík Jr.*	MM Technology	C	6:51:28

FIM

Class	Overall	Number	Rider	Team	Break Point	Time
RallyGP	1	4	Daniel Sanders	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	E	7:41:56
Rally2	6	22	Michael Docherty	BAS World KTM Racing Team	E	7:52:18

Other

Class	Number	Competitor	Team	Points
Dakar Classic	700	Carlos Santaolalla	Factory Tub	15
Mission 1000	1040	Jordi Juvanteny, Xavier Ribas, José Luis Criado	KH-7 Ecovergy Team	15

Featured image credit: DPPI / Red Bull Content Pool