Rallying-Dakar Rally champion Al-Rajhi eyes September return after accident

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FILE PHOTO: Rallying - Dakar Rally - Stage 12 - Shubaytah to Shubaytah - Saudi Arabia - January 17, 2025 Overdrive Racings Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk celebrate with Prince Khalid bin Sultan Al-Abdullah Al-Faisal, President of Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation after winning in the car category REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed/File Photo

Saudi Arabias Yazeed Al-Rajhi, the reigning Dakar Rally champion, aims to resume competitive racing by September following a serious accident in Jordan that left him with two broken vertebrae.

Al-Rajhi, 43, became the first Saudi to win the Dakar Rally in January, completing the 12-stage race nearly four minutes ahead of South African rival Henk Lategan. The event, relocated to Saudi Arabia in 2020 after years in South America, originally followed a Europe-to-Africa route but shifted due to security concerns after 2007.

I am gradually recovering from the injury I sustained in Aqaba last April while participating in the Jordan Baja, Al-Rajhi told Reuters on Tuesday, referencing the accident that flipped his car during the rally. His co-driver, Germanys Timo Gottschalk, was also seriously injured.

I am following the treatment and rehabilitation program strictly under the supervision of a specialised medical team, amid high morale and great determination to return.

Al-Rajhi, who competes for his own team Yazeed Racing, said he expects to return in September at Rally Portugal.

God willing, I anticipate resuming participation