Nineteen-year-old Saood Variawa of South Africa became the youngest top-class driver to win a stage in the Dakar Rally.

South Africa's Henk Lategan leads general classification in cars, Australia's Sanders leads general classification in motorcycles - Anadolu Ajansı

(Reuters) -Nine-times world rally champion Sebastien Loeb is out of the Dakar Rally after he rolled his Dacia in the Saudi desert on Tuesday as the race continued to take a toll of the big names after the exit of 2024 winner Carlos Sainz.

Dakar Rally drivers and riders recount Stage 2 of the event, where competitors took two days to traverse nearly 1000 km.

Carlos Sainz's defence of his Dakar Rally title ended prematurely on Monday when the Spaniard was forced to pull out after the marathon 48-hour stage won by Lithuanian driver Rokas Baciuska."It's the end of the adventure for four-time Dakar winner and defending champion Carlos Sainz and his co-driver Lucas Cruz.

He was forced to pull out of the race for a third time and follows defending champion Carlos Sainz, who crashed the previous day. Read more at straitstimes.com.

Sebastien Loeb struggled to complete Stage 3 of the Dakar Rally on Tuesday after rolling his car near the start, a setback that is likely to cost him his dream of a first title in the event. Loeb, who has finished second three times in the Dakar Rally,

After Sainz, Loeb also takes a big hit to his car in what is proving to be one of the toughest Dakar events in recent history