Timo Gottschalk (born August 28, 1974 in Neuruppin) is a German rally co-driver, most notable for being on the winning team of the 2011 Dakar Rally alongside Nasser Al-Attiyah and in 2025 with Yazeed Al-Rajhi. [1]
Timo Gottschalk (born August 28, 1974 in Neuruppin) is a German rally co-driver, most notable for being on the winning team of the 2011 Dakar Rally alongside Nasser Al-Attiyah and in 2025 with Yazeed Al-Rajhi. [1]
Gottschalk made his debut in the Dakar Rally as navigator to compatriot Dieter Depping in the truck category in 2007, the pair finishing 26th. The following year's event was cancelled, but Depping and Gottschalk managed to finish a creditable third place overall in the car category of the replacement 2008 Central Europe Rally, driving a factory Volkswagen Touareg. Depping and Gottschalk continued with the factory Volkswagen team for the Dakar Rally's inaugural visit to South America in 2009 finished sixth overall, albeit almost nine hours down on their victorious teammates Giniel de Villiers and Dirk von Zitzewitz.
Gottschalk then teamed up with Nasser Al-Attiyah for the 2010 event, the pair winning four stages together en route to finishing runners-up to Volkswagen teammates Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz, just over two minutes down on the winning time. Gottschalk and Al-Attiyah returned in 2011, assuming the lead of the rally after victory in the eighth stage. Problems for Sainz and Cruz in the eleventh stage handed Gottschalk and Al-Attiyah a lead of over 50 minutes that they would maintain until the end of the rally.
Gottschalk chose not to return to the Dakar to defend his crown in 2012, instead becoming co-driver to young German rally driver Sepp Wiegand in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge. In the past, he has also partnered Andreas Aigner in the World Rally Championship and Armin Kremer in the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship. [2] Gottschalk returned to Dakar in 2013 as a partner to Carlos Sainz in the new Qatar Red Bull team, winning the opening stage of the rally, but the pair failed to finish after engine problems on the sixth stage halted their progress. [3]
In 2018, he won the Silk Way Rallye alongside driver Yazeed Al-Rajhi. [4] In 2025, he and Al-Rajhi won the 2025 Dakar Rally. [5] He later revealed that the event, his 17th attempt at the Dakar, had been his toughest challenge yet, with consistency from him and Al-Rajhi having been the deciding factor in their victory. [6]
The Dakar Rally or simply "The Dakar", formerly known as the "Paris–Dakar Rally", is an annual rally raid organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation. The rally is an off-road endurance 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. Most of the competitive special sections are off-road, crossing dunes, mud, camel grass, rocks, and erg among others. The distances of each stage covered vary from short distances up to 800–900 kilometres (500–560 mi) per day. The rough terrain, driver fatigue, and lack of skill usually results in accidents and serious injuries.
Carlos Sainz Cenamor is a Spanish rally driver. He won the World Rally Championship drivers' title with Toyota in 1990 and 1992, and finished runner-up four times. Constructors' world champions to have benefited from Sainz are Subaru (1995), Toyota (1999) and Citroën. In the 2018 season, he was one of the official drivers of the Team Peugeot Total. He received the Princess of Asturias Sports Award in 2020. Sainz founded the Acciona | Sainz XE Team to join Extreme E and competed in the first two seasons alongside Laia Sanz.
Nasser Salih Nasser Abdullah Al-Attiyah is a Qatari rally driver and sport shooter. He was the 2006 Production World Rally Champion, 2014 and 2015 WRC-2 champion, an 18 time Middle East Rally Champion, a five-time FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies champion, a three-time World Rally-Raid Champion, and a five-time Dakar Rally winner. His five victories in the Dakar Rally make him the only Middle Easterner and West Asian to win the competition more than once.
The 2009 Dakar Rally was the 31st running of the Dakar Rally. In addition to motorcycle, automobile, and truck categories, a separate quad class was added for the first time. The race began on 3 January 2009, and took place across Argentina and Chile. The rally was for the first time to take place outside of Europe and Africa as the location was changed by organizers due to concerns about possible terrorist attacks that resulted in the moving of the 2008 edition from the traditional route to Senegal to Hungary and Romania in the spring.
The 2010 Dakar Rally was the 32nd running of the event. It was held in South America for the second successive time, and ran from 1 to 16 January. The Amaury Sport Organisation and the governments of Argentina and Chile agreed to a return to South America for the event in February 2009.
Giniel de Villiers is a South African racing and rally driver, best known for winning the 2009 Dakar Rally.
The 2011 Dakar Rally was the 33rd running of the event. It was held in Argentina and Chile for the third successive time, and ran from 1 to 16 January. The Amaury Sport Organisation and the governments of Argentina and Chile agreed to a return to South America for the event on 23 March 2010.
Lucas Cruz Senra is a Spanish computer engineer, mostly known as a rally racing co-driver and experienced navigator.
Michel Périn is a French rally navigator.
The Volkswagen Motorsport was a works rally team of the German car manufacturer Volkswagen, who competed in the World Rally Championship (WRC) and Dakar Rally.
Yazeed Mohamed Al-Rajhi is a Saudi businessman, entrepreneur, and business magnate. One of the sons of businessman Sheikh Muhammad bin Abdulaziz Al-Rajhi, his origins trace back to the Al-Qassim region (Al-Bukayriyah), and his lineage traces back to the Bani Zaid tribe. He was born and raised in Riyadh. He began his working life at an early age when his father appointed him in 1998 as an observer of the Private Property Office and later became its general manager throughout the Kingdom in 2004, after which he rose to a number of high positions until he became one of the well-known businessmen.
The 2013 Dakar Rally was the 35th running of the event and the fifth successive year that the event was held in South America. The event started in Lima, Peru on 5 January and finished in Santiago, Chile on 19 January after fourteen stages of competition. 448 vehicles in four classes of competition started the event, which comprised a total distance of over 8,500 kilometres. The motorcycle category was won by French rider Cyril Despres for a fifth time, riding a KTM; Marcos Patronelli took his second win in the quad competition riding a Yamaha; Stéphane Peterhansel captured his eleventh Dakar victory in the car category alongside co-driver Jean-Paul Cottret at the wheel of a Mini; and Eduard Nikolaev's maiden victory re-captured the truck category title for Kamaz.
Dirk von Zitzewitz is a German professional racing driver and motorcyclist, most notable for being on the winning team of the 2009 Dakar Rally alongside Giniel de Villiers.
The 2014 Dakar Rally was the 36th running of the event and the sixth successive year that the event was held in South America. The event started in Rosario, Argentina on January 5 and finished in Valparaíso, Chile on January 18 after 13 stages of competition. Marc Coma won his fourth title in the motorcycle category riding a KTM; Ignacio Casale took his maiden title in the quad category on a Yamaha; Nani Roma clinched victory in the car category for the first time, ten years after his sole motorcycle title, driving a Mini; and Andrey Karginov took his first truck category title for Kamaz.
The 2015 Dakar Rally was the 37th running of the event and the seventh successive year that the event was held in South America. The event started in Buenos Aires, Argentina on January 4, then ran through Argentina, Chile and Bolivia, before returning to Buenos Aires on January 17 after 13 stages of competition, for a total distance of 9,000 km (5,600 mi). For the first time, organizers reserved separate rest days for different categories so that at least two classes raced on each day.
The Mini All4 Racing is an off-road competition car, built by X-raid between 2011 and 2015, specially designed to take part in the rally raids with the main objective of winning the Dakar Rally. In 2017 Mini All4 Racing was succeeded by Mini John Cooper Works Rally.
The Mini John Cooper Works Rally is an off-road competition car based on the Mini Countryman, which is built and used by the German racing team X-Raid around team manager Sven Quandt. The John Cooper Works Rally was first used in the 2017 Dakar Rally.
Seth Quintero is an American off-road racing driver. He is currently part of Red Bull's rallying team for rally raid events and competes in the World Rally-Raid Championship.
Lucas Moraes is a Brazilian off-road racing driver. He is currently driving for Toyota in the World Rally-Raid Championship as part of Red Bull's rallying team for rally raid events. Moraes has achieved multiple accolades throughout his career, including winning the South American Mitsubishi Cup on two occasions, the Brazilian championship three times, as well as finishing third on his Dakar Rally debut in 2023.
The 2025 World Rally-Raid Championship is the fourth season of the annual competition for rally raid events sanctioned by both the FIA and FIM. The Amaury Sport Organization is in the fourth of a five-year contract to promote the championship. The season started with the 2025 Dakar Rally, which was won in cars by Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk and by Daniel Sanders on bikes.