Guerlain Chicherit recorded a surprise win for X-raid Mini in the first stage of the 2025 Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia following a sustained competition with Toyota opponents.
Frenchman Chicherit was quick from the start in Saturday’s 499km test around Bisha, setting an early advantage of more than a minute in his Mini JCW Rally 3.0i.
Chicherit was chased vigorously by a group of drivers from Toyota’s factory squad and its affiliated Overdrive team, with as many as four Hilux T1+s right behind him on the standings ladder.
Saood Variava had moved ahead of Chicherit’s Mini, with Chicherit also falling behind Guy Botterill at the next checkpoint.
However, the Mini driver made a comeback in the next phase of the stage and started trading the top spot with Moraes, solidifying his position as Toyota’s leading contender.
Chicherit started the final section of the stage trailing Moraes by 18 seconds, but quickly closed the gap for his eighth overall stage victory in Dakar and Mini’s first stage win at the event since 2021.
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Moraes intentionally stopped the car for several minutes to get a better starting position for the 48-hour time stage on Sunday and Monday, dropping his ranking to eighth in the process.
This allowed his Toyota teammate Seth Quintero to move up to second, lagging 50 seconds behind the leader Chicherit, with Variava securing third place in his Hilux.
The late change of positions boosted Martin Prokop to fourth in the privateer Jipocar Ford, ahead of Cristina Gutierrez in the Dacia Sandriders, who finished second, and Mini driver Joao Ferreira in sixth place.
New Ford recruit Carlos Sainz passed Guillaume de Mevius, who had chosen to start first but deliberately slowed down to give himself a better chance in Stage 2.
The four-time Dakar winner initially dropped to the middle of the top 30, but then climbed back up to finish seventh among the factory Raptors, trailing behind stage winner Chicherit by 7 minutes and 58 seconds.
Filled fifth place in the top ten.
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who were classified 16th and 18th respectively.
Sebastien Loeb intentionally slowed down in the final stretch to the finish line, ending up in 20th and 24th place respectively, both of which were more than 10 minutes behind the leaders. Previously, they had been running in the 10th and 16th positions at the previous checkpoint.
Following the opening special, drivers will cover a vast distance of 587 miles (or approximately 947 kilometers) over a two-day long marathon stage, where any form of external assistance is strictly prohibited.
Dakar 2025 – Results after Stage 1 (Top 10):
| Pos | Driver | Car | Time/gap |
| 1 | Guerlain Chicherit | Mini | 4h35m53s |
| 2 | Seth Quintero | Toyota | +50s |
| 3 | Saood Variawa | Toyota | +1m03s |
| 4 | Martin Prokop | Ford | +1m04s |
| 5 | Joao Ferreira | Dacia | +1m28s |
| 6 | Cristina Gutierrez | Mini | +1m53s |
| 7 | Carlos Sainz | Ford | +2m32s |
| 8 | Lucas Moraes | Toyota | +2m33s |
| 9 | Toby Price | Toyota | +3m13s |
| 10 | Henk Lategan | Toyota | +3m27s |
