TGR's Lategan/Cummings still on top after Dakar 2025 Stage 6

The sixth stage of Dakar 2025 saw TOYOTA GAZOO Racing's Henk Lategan and co-driver Brett Cummings (#211) remain in the overall lead of the rally, despite relinquishing 3min 1sec to Yazeed Al Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk who are in second place, in their privately entered Toyota Hilux. The TGR crew suffered a single puncture on the stage of 605km, which took the rally from the Rest Day bivouac at Hail to the town of Al Duwadimi to the south. Lategan and Cummings completed the stage in the 7th-fastest time, 6min 36 behind the stage winners. They remain in the overall lead, and now have a buffer of 7min 16sec to Al Rajhi/Gottschalk with six stages remaining in the rally. Stage six saw a solid performance from Guy Botterill and Dennis Murphy, in the #205 GR Hilux EVO. The pair has suffered a setback earlier in the race when they lost time due to a mechanical problem, but showed their mettle today by spending most of the day in the lead of the stage. It was only a small navigational error that precluded them from a stage win, between the final waypoint and the finish. Still, they lost only 3min 25sec on today's stage. Seth Quintero and Dennis Zenz (#204) had the tough task of opening the stage, and while the Californian recorded a clean stage, he lost 13min 3sec to the winners as a result of his road position. The pair are in 8th place overall, 1h 36min 37sec behind the pace set by Lategan/Cummings. Young gun, Saood Variawa and co-driver Francois Cazalet (#218) are still finding their rhythm in the dunes, and they also opted for a more cautious approach during the opening sections of Stage 6, which were peppered with rocks. They lost 17min 01sec on the day, and are 8hr 32min 46sec behind the overall lead. TGR's veteran duo, Giniel de Villiers and Dirk von Zitzewitz (#206) finished Stage 6 24min 52sec behind the leaders, after Von Zitzewitz injured his neck while they were traversing rough terrain mid-stage. This forced De Villiers to slow his pace significantly, and Von Zit