After the Dakar Classic had a different winner in each of the first four editions, Carlos Santaolalla bucked the trend with a strong showing en route to his second straight victory.

Once again in his Toyota Land Cruiser HDJ80, he recorded the fewest points in seven of 11 stages. Like in 2024, Santaolalla battled with Lorenzo Traglio for the win and held him off by a greater margin (31 points, compared to 12 last year) to secure the victory. Land Cruisers have won all but one of the five Dakar Classics to date, with Marc Douton’s 1979 Team Sunhill Buggy claiming the inaugural race in 2021.

Traglio switched from a Nissan Pathfinder to a Terrano Pick-Up for 2025. He won Stage #2 to take the lead from Santaolalla and held it until the rest day despite Santaolalla’s three-stage win streak. Despite finishing sixth in Stage #6, Santaolalla had 47 fewer points than Traglio and regained the top spot.

Three more stage wins further bolstered Santaolalla’s efforts. Traglio placed directly behind him in Stages #8 and #10 in a three-stage runner-up streak, and a five-way tie with Santaolalla in the fog-shortened Stage #11 (along with Karolis Raišys, Antonio Ricciari, and Tomasz Staniszewski) sealed his 31-point deficit.

Raišys finished third in an impressive debut despite racing one of the oldest and slowest cars (as he called it) in the field, a 1978 Land Rover 109 Series III. Save for a power steering issue in Stage #8, Raišys avoided further trouble to bring the car home on the overall podium and with the H1.A victory.

The categories were set based on the car’s speed and era, though drivers could request reassignment following the Prologue. 2023 winner Juan Morera, Francisco Benavente, Christophe Berteloot, and Dirk van Rompuy each moved from H2 (moderate average speed) to H1 for (low average speed) after the initial day of racing.

Morera’s Porsche 959, which had raced in H2 to a fifth in class last year, had his race cut short by a radiator fan breaking while he tried to scale a dune in Stage #8. While Porsches are a beloved staple from the Paris–Dakar Rally days, the Saudi desert was not kind to Axel Berrier’s Gulf Oil-liveried 964 either as he finished 35th after ending up in the trees in Stage #1. Staniszewski’s 1985 924, the only other Porsche entered, finished fourth.

The dunes also claimed victims like Cédric Zolliker, who overshot one and flipped in his Land Cruiser. Barbora Holická’s Citroën 2CV Sahara endured a rash of tire and clutch issues early on, followed by a misadventure in Stage #3 when the clutch cable came loose and the rear axle got bent beyond repair, forcing her to stop. Fellow Czech Classic driver Jan Barta offered help but ran out of gas, so he and Holická made a deal to siphon gas from her 2CV to ensure he could make it back to the bivouac. Sandra Riviere and her all-woman truck crew pulled the 2CV to the finish. Floris de Raadt, also in a 2CV, helped pull Staniszewski’s Porsche out of a dune in Stage #3 before having the left front axle break off in the desert eight days later.

Riviere was accompanied by Séverine Lehoux and Aurore Vieillard, both active duty members of the French Army despite the former having to undergo a left femur amputation due to bone cancer. The women drove a Renault Kerax for Ecurie Frères d’Armes banner, who fielded Classic cars for wounded veterans. Ludovic Failly and Franck Poirot, who suffered burns when a Greek F-16D crashed at Los Llanos Air Base in 2015, raced a Peugeot P4 with the team but had to bow out because of a Stage #10 electrical fire; their car also suffered an engine failure because of a broken glow plug that caused coolant to leak on the first day.

Erik Van Loon, a longtime Dakar Rally veteran making his Classic debut, won the H4 class with a 31st. Fellow Dutchman and 2007 Dakar Rally truck winner Hans Stacey was 57th in his first Classic. Both were part of a four-Audi Quattro effort alongside Peter van den Bosch and 2021 FIA World Endurance LMP2 Pro-Am Champion Frits van Eerd.

“We achieved very good daily results. That wasn’t easy with an H4 compared to the H1, but we did it,” said Van Loon. His wife Anja competed in the Truck class. “I’m super happy with the class win. We had nearly 9,000 fewer points than Peter, who came in second.

“This will likely be the last time I come to the Dakar. Maybe I’ll do the Classic again someday, but this was a nice conclusion.”

Truck regular Aleš Loprais’ team entered the Classic for the first time. Igor Pazdera, joined by actress and singer-songwriter Olga Lounová, raced a Tatra 815 Puma inspired by Karel Loprais’ thrice Dakar-winning model while Jiří Husek was in a Tatra 815 HAS based on the Puma’s predecessor with which he won twice. Lounová replaced Jan Čermák, who won the 1998 Dakar Rally with Karel but had to withdraw due to health problems.

Both trucks avoided mechanical issues to reach the finish, placing 1–2 in H2T with the Puma on top.

“It is definitely not something for little boys,” remarked Husek. “You have to completely eliminate the feeling of fear, keep a cool head, think and drive with great respect for the terrain and the overall situation. It is definitely not a walk in the park. There are moments when you enjoy the surroundings, but then there are moments when your hands are tangled and your nerves are frayed.”

Overall results

Finish	Number	Driver	Teammate	Team	Class	Points	Margin
1	700	Carlos Santaolalla	Jan Rosa Viñas	Factory Tub	H1.B	586	Leader
2	701	Lorenzo Traglio	Rudy Briani	Tecnosport	H1.B	617	+ 31
3	774	Karolis Raišys	Ignas Daunoravičius	Flameris Racing	H1.A	980	+ 394
4	753	Tomasz Staniszewski	Stanisław Postawka	NRF DEXT P-Rally Team	H1.A	1,273	+ 687
5	769	Marco Leva	Alexia Giugni	R Team	H1.B	1,429	+ 843
6	703	Dirk van Rompuy	Chris Goris	TH-Trucks Team	H1.B	1,686	+ 1,100
7	710	Jörg Sand	Patrik Diemer	Rallyeraid-Club-Germany	H1.A	1,740	+ 1,154
8	738	Antonio Ricciari	Simona Morosi	R Team	H1.B	1,828	+ 1,242
9	900	Rafael Lesmes	Albert Casabona Vilaseca, Tabatha Romon	TH-Trucks Team	H1T.B	1,896	+ 1,310
10	731	Josef Unterholzner	Franco Gaioni	R Team	H2.B	1,913	+ 1,327+
11	778	David Cupers	Corinne Cupers	Team Pevéle Aventure	H1.B	2,027	+ 1,441
12	761	Matías Rodríguez	Sandra Guasch	Pedregà Team	H2.B	2,101	+ 1,515
13	776	Peter Schey	Christopher Schey	Aspen Pumps / Works Rally-Raid	H2.B	2,499	+ 1,913
14	734	Frédéric Fatien	Jean-Luc Roinet	Compagnie Saharienne	H1.B	2,572	+ 1,986
15	758	Jean-Pierre Valentini	François Beguin	Compagnie Saharienne	H1.B	2,599	+ 2,013
16	744	Luis Pedrals Marot	Sergi Girault Valero	TH-Trucks Team	H1.B	2,662	+ 2,076
17	766	Eufrasio Anghileri	Antonio Anghileri	Motortecnica	H3.C	2,845	+ 2,259
18	722	Sanjay Takale	Maxime Raud	Compagnie Saharienne	H1.B	2,996	+ 2,410
19	764	Valentin Simonet	Mathieu Monplaisi	Compagnie Saharienne	H3.C	3,000	+ 2,414
20	714	Juraj Šebalj	Siniša Crnojević	CRO Dakar Classic Team	H1.B	3,110	+ 2,524
21	768	Jordan Grogor	Wesley Grogor	Compagnie Saharienne	H1.B	3,828	+ 3,242
22	735	Luciano Carcheri	Fabrizia Pons	Luciano Carcheri	H1.B	3,987	+ 3,401
23	763	Francesco Pece	Monica Buonamano	Tecnosport	H1.B	4,332	+ 3,746
24	715	Renato Rickler	Massimo Gabbrieleschi	R Team	H2.B	4,639	+ 4,053
25	916	Julien Bechemin	Pierre Moulinier, Eric Bertrande	Team Boucou	H1T.B	4,898	+ 4,312
26	746	Ugo Bullesi	Myriam Manzoni	Bullesi	H2.B	5,352	+ 4,766
27	739	Christophe Berteloot	Stéphanie Wante	Team Pevéle Aventure	H1.B	6,652	+ 6,066
28	704	Maxence Gublin	Anthony Sousa	Bolides Racing	H1.B	7,213	+ 6,627
29	777	Lorenzo Fluxá Domene	Xavi Ribas	LJS Racing Team	1.B	7,396	+ 6,810
30	733	Guido Dalla Rosa Prati	Maria Vittoria Dalla Rosa Prati	Motortecnica	H3.C	7,541	+ 6,955
31	705	Erik Van Loon	Hein Verschuuren	Dutch Quattro Legends	H4.B	8,297	+ 7,711
32	726	Peter Brabeck-Letmathe	Jean-Michel Gayte	Team Casteu Classic	H3.B	8,595	+ 8,009
33	765	Tenessy Grèzes	Lucas Longepe	Team Bournezeau Rallye Aventure	H2.B	8,770	+ 8,184
34	907	Igor Pazdera	Olga Lounová, Milan Holáň	Loprais Tatra Team	H2T.C	8,843	+ 8,257
35	706	Axel Berrier	Jérémy Athimon	Team SSP / Nantes Prestige Autos	H2.B	9,296	+ 8,710
36	920	Jiří Husek	Lubomír Dočkal, Dominik Holáň	Loprais Tatra Team	H2T.B	9,644	+ 9,058
37	718	Dominique Durand	Eric Soldani	Team SSP	H2.B	9,681	+ 9,095
38	902	Jaime Martínez Canteli	Nekane Abin Bardeci, Raquel Pelaez Fernandez	TH-Trucks Team	H1T.B	9,896	+ 9,310
39	730	Patrice Auzet	François-Xavier Bourgois	Team Boucou	H2.A	10,062	+ 9,476
40	781	Juraj Ulrich	Ľuboš Schwarzbacher	Ulrich Schwarzbacher Dakar Team	H3.B	12,136	+ 11,550
41	775	Luciano Montorfano	Elena Borroni	Tecnosport	H2.C	12,158	+ 11,572
42	759	Patrick Doby	Clement Doby	Team Pevéle Aventure	H1.B	13,090	+ 12,504
43	711	Lionel Guy	Laurent Milbergue	Team GVA2025	H2.A	13,925	+ 13,339
44	760	Ludovic Bois	Julia Colman	Ludovic Bois	H2.C	14,080	+ 13,494
45	743	Ondřej Martinec	Jiří Kopřiva	Czech Samurais	H2.B	14,616	+ 14,030
46	901	Stefano Calzi	Umberto Fiori, Gianluca Ianni	Motortecnica	H2T.C	14,646	+ 14,060
47	749	Damiano Lipani	Stefano Crementieri	R Team	H3.C	15,241	+ 14,655
48	770	Julien Bessé	Franck Corbeau	Team Bournezeau Rallye Aventure	H2.B	15,676	+ 15,090
49	909	Jérôme Pélichet	Jean-Philippe Beziat, Ludovic Hecocard	RaidLynx	H2T.B	15,888	+ 15,302
50	915	Hubert Lelievre	Franck Geenens, David Lhermelin	Team HoleShot Compétition	H1T.C	16,259	+ 15,673
51	904	Dorian Bardeau	Lourdes Puigmal, Franck Puchouau	Team Boucou	H2T.C	16,847	+ 16,261
52	736	Christine Bernard	Bruno Delagneau	Team SSP	H2.B	17,003	+ 16,417
53	729	Peter van den Bosch	Hans Brand	Dutch Quattro Legends	H4.B	17,211	+ 16,625
54	747	Amadeo Roige Bragulat	Jorge Toral	Pedregà Team	Y2.B	18,931	+ 18,345
55	911	Giulliano Bergo	Luca Macrini, Rocco Sbaraglia	R Team	H1T.B	19,267	+ 18,681
56	752	Jan Barta	Petr Svec	Enjoy Motorsport	H2.B	20,891	+ 20,305
57	713	Hans Stacey	Rob Megens	Dutch Quattro Legends	H4.B	20,897	+ 20,311
58	913	Roberto Camporese	Paolo Scalzotto	Motortecnica	H2T.B	20,990	+ 20,404
59	773	Christophe Chabeuf	Didier Fraisse	Team SSP	H2.B	21,963	+ 21,377
60	779	Péter Hamza	András Kalmár	Tireman Racing Team	H2.B	21,982	+ 21,396
61	723	Hervé Solandt	Paul Puchouau	Team Boucou	H1.B	24,352	+ 23,766
62	717	Frits van Eerd	Patric Brinkman	Dutch Quattro Legends	H4.B	25,048	+ 24,462
63	755	Jan Vins	Filip Bajora	Enjoy Motorsport	H2.B	25,457	+ 24,871
64	780	William Fosat	Florent Riviere	Egal16	H1.B	27,211	+ 26,625
65	720	Gian Paolo Cavagna	Gianni Pelizzola	Tecnosport	H2.C	27,421	+ 26,835
66	712	Barbora Holická	Lucie Engová	Czech Samurais	H1.A	28,046	+ 27,460
67	721	Ernst Amort	Adolf Ruhaltinger	Montana Racing	H1.A	28,323	+ 27,737
68	908	Olivier Guillory	Bruno Grilli, Arnaud Vincent	Team SSP	H1T.B	29,233	+ 28,647
69	756	Christophe Déage	Louis Déage	Team Déage Racing	H3.C	29,482	+ 28,896
70	905	Janus van Kasteren Sr.	Frank Burgers, Herman Keijsers	Team de Rooy	H2T.B	29,886	+ 29,300
71	724	Floris de Raadt	David Kann	Team 2 Chameaux	H1.A	31,279	+ 30,693
72	709	Asier Duarte	Luis Barbero	TH-Trucks Team	H2.B	32,444	+ 31,858
73	772	Frank Uwe Jürgen Thiel	Carl Friedrich Schuppert	Montana Racing	H2.C	33,049	+ 32,463
74	910	Sandra Riviere	Séverine Lehoux	Aurore Vieillard	H1T.C	35,783	+ 35,197
75	782	Tamás Mikucza	Andras Bako	MIQ Team	H2.B	37,964	+ 37,378
76	918	Robert Thiele	Markus Klesse, Nils Schmidt	Rallyeraid-Club-Germany	H1T.A	48,874	+ 48,288
77	917	Alexander Schmidt	Jan Dippel, Daniel Schatz	Rallyeraid-Club-Germany	H1T.A	48,960	+ 48,374
78	751	Henry Favre	Alessandro Iacovelli	R Team	H1.B	49,141	+ 48,555
79	762	Denis Fercoq	Jean-Marc Locqueneaux	Passion-Aventure	H1.B	49,867	+ 49,281
80	914	Vincent Cupers	Frederic Cambier, Jean-Pierre Wattreloo	Team Pevéle Aventure	H1T.A	50,040	+ 49,454

Stage winners

Stage	Winner	Points
Prologue	Juan Morera	16
Stage #1	Carlos Santaolalla	27
Stage #2	Lorenzo Traglio	103
Stage #3	Carlos Santaolalla	45
Stage #4	Carlos Santaolalla	50
Stage #5	Carlos Santaolalla	59
Stage #6	Juraj Šebalj	48
Stage #7	Carlos Santaolalla, Juraj Šebalj	40
Stage #8	Carlos Santaolalla	32
Stage #9	Dirk van Rompuy	24
Stage #10	Carlos Santaolalla	7
Stage #11	Dirk van Rompuy	0
Stage #12	N/A	N/A

Featured image credit: Aurélien Vialatte / ASO