Roma fastest as Lategan retakes overall lead

Nani Roma scored Ford’s first stage victory of the 2025 Dakar Rally on Wednesday, while Toyota driver Henk Lategan recaptured the lead in the overall standings.

Stage 10 marked the first visit to the unforgiving Empty Quarters desert in Saudi Arabia, as competitors tackled 120km of dunes and sand between Haradh and Shubaytah.

The tricky route shook up the order in the Ultimate category and allowed drivers from Challenger and SSV classes to contend for the outright victory in cars.

Amid the tricky conditions, two-time Dakar winner Roma showed his experience on Stage 10, leading at all three checkpoints to take a narrow 18s victory over Toyota driver Lucas Moraes.

This was Roma’s first stage victory in Dakar since 2015 as well as the first for the new Raptor that Ford has jointly developed with M-Sport for a four-car factory assault.

Moraes sat more than a minute adrift of Roma at the second checkpoint, but made rapid gains in the final 23km stretch to the finish, sealing his best result since his victory on Stage 7.

Century’s Brian Baragwanth ended up third among the Ultimate class contenders, just 2m21s down on Roma in one of the best showings for the South African manufacturer.

Daniel Schroder was a surprise fourth for PS Laser Racing, demoting Overdrive’s Juan Cruz Yacopini and Dacia driver Cristina Gutierrez to fifth and sixth respectively.

Denis Krotov took over the baton for X-raid Mini after Guillaume de Mevius stopped for 35 minutes at the beginning of the stage with mechanical problems, finishing less than 30 seconds behind Gutierrez in seventh.

Toyota duo Seth Quintero and Henk Lategan finished eighth and 10th respectively, separated by the Century of Matthieu Serradori.

Lategan’s top 10 finish was particularly crucial in South Africa’s pursuit of a maiden Dakar win as his nearest title rivals had a difficult day in the dunes.

Both Ford’s Mattias Ekstrom and Overdrive’s Yazeed Al-Rajhi gradually slipped outside the top 20 as more and more drivers reached the finish, while things got even worse for Dacia’s Nasser Al-Attiyah, who ended up 24th in the provisional results after losing his way just 9km into the stage.

That meant that Lategan was able to return to the front in the overall standings, overturning a seven-minute deficit from Tuesday into a 2m27s advantage over Al-Rajhi.

#211 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota: Henk Lategan, Brett Cummings

Photo by: TOYOTA GAZOO Racing

Ekstrom has now dropped 26 minutes behind Lategan, while Al-Attiyah faces a 30-minute deficit with just two more stages to run in the 2025 Dakar.

Mitch Guthrie Jr’s 13th-place finish in the other Ford keeps him fifth in the overall standings, but only five minutes ahead of Serradori’s Century.

All remaining drivers sit at least 90 minutes behind and with no realistic chance of fighting back in the 47th edition of the Dakar, with only 336km of distance left to cover in the final two stages.

Dakar 2025 – Classification after Stage 10 (Top 10)

Photos from Dakar Rally Stage 10