The 2025 Dakar Rally has begun, and the Prologue stage has set the pace for this year’s competition. The first day has given us a mix of good and bad news and the most notable being the performance of expected names and Hero’s podium. Honda is already showing its dominance while KTM has shown why it is a formidable team, while Honda is on the attack. Here are the stage highlights from the 2025 Dakar Rally Prologue.
2025 Dakar Rally Prologue: Motorcycle results
KTM took the stage victory at the opening stage of the 2025 Dakar Rally with Australian Daniel Sanders, followed by Hero’s Ross Branch in second, followed by KTM’s newbie, Edgar Canet. Honda came in the next three slots, with Brabec leading the charge for the red armada. For Stage 1 of the Dakar Rally, the top 10 riders can choose their starting position.
However, not all news is good, as last year’s Rally 2 winner, Harith Noah, has officially retired from the race this year after a broken wrist. The other two Indian in this year’s rally, Ashish Raorane and Jatin Jain, successfully completed the stage.
2025 Dakar Rally Prologue: Cars
In the cars category, Toyota was victorious, with Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Henk Lategan taking the win in the Prologue. Ford put on an impressive performance in its Dakar debut, taking second place with Mattias Ekstrom behind the wheel, while the Qatari, Nasser Al-Attiyah finished third with the Dacia Sandriders team.
Ex-Dakar motorcycle champions, Toby Price and Sam Sunderland are out this year in the T1+ category, with the Australian behind the wheel of a Toyota Hilux. The duo finished the stage in eleventh place while defending champion Carlos Sainz finished the day in 24th in his Ford.
2025 Dakar Rally stage results
| Motorcycles | ||
| Position | Name | Team |
| 1 | Daniel Sanders | KTM |
| 2 | Ross Branch | Hero |
| 3 | Edgar Canet | KTM |
| Cars | ||
| 1 | Henk Lategan | Toyota |
| 2 | Mattias Ekstrom | Ford |
| 3 | Nasser Al-Attiyah | Dacia |