[Image: DakarRally/Facebook]
South Africa’s Giniel De Villiers has been forced to withdraw from the 2025 Dakar Rally, ending his 22-year-long streak in the toughest motorsport race in the world.
According to reports, this year’s rally is a doozy, with De Villiers joining several drivers and riders who have already seen their races cut short.
De Villiers and navigator Dirk von Zitzewitz were forced to retire after the Toyota Gazoo Racing navigator suffered a neck injury. After a thorough examination, medical staff deemed it unsafe for him to continue.
The pair have had a good run in the Dakar Rally, having completed 14 races thus far, including overall victory at the event in 2009. Despite their withdrawal, the South African duo finished 20th on Saturday’s stage and ranked 15th overall. To date, De Villiers has 22 consecutive finishes, 20 of which have been in the top 10.
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The 2025 Dakar Rally has been one of the toughest ever with News24 reporting that approximately 40% of the cars that started withdrawn from the race before stage seven. To illustrate how rough conditions are, Sam Sunderland, co-driver for Toby Price, was forced to abandon the race with a concussion, caused by his head continuously bumping against the side of the seat.
For those who don’t know, the Dakar Rally, formerly known as the “Paris–Dakar Rally,” is an annual rally raid organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation. In a ‘true off-road event’, the terrain that the competitors traverse is much tougher than that used in conventional rallying, and the vehicles used are typically true off-road vehicles and motorcycles, rather than modified on-road vehicles.
Check out some of the 2025 highlights below:
[Source: News24]
