Henk Lategan and Yazeed Al-Rajhi will duel in the Saudi sand for their first Dakar Rally title after swapping the lead for a second straight day.

Yazeed Al-Rajhi is set to win the Dakar Rally on home soil in the Saudi desert after retaking the lead from South Africa’s Henk Lategan on Thursday.

Toyota's South African Henk Lategan regained the overall lead in the Dakar Rally on Wednesday with a two minutes and 27 seconds advantage over Saudi Arabia's Yazeed Al-Rajhi going into the penultimate stage.

South African Henk Lategan (Toyota) consolidated his lead atop the driver standings of the Dakar Rally by winning the eighth stage on Monday.

Local driver Yazeed Al Rajhi has taken advantage of a miserable stage by Henk Lategan to grab the Dakar Rally lead in the Saudi Arabia desert.

SHUBAYTAH, SAUDI ARABIA (Reuters) -Local hero Yazeed Al-Rajhi secured his first Dakar title on Friday, finishing the 12-stage rally almost four minutes ahead of his closest competitor Henk Lategan, while Red Bull KTM's Daniel Sanders maintained his lead to win in the motorcycle category.

Yazeed Al-Rajhi has become the first Saudi to win the Dakar Rally after completing the race on home sand in Shubaytah.

Henk Lategan and Daniel Sanders held their leads when the Dakar Rally resumed on Saturday while admitting not wanting to push too hard before tougher stages to the finish in the Saudi desert.

Yazeed Al-Rajhi opened up a commanding overall lead of six minutes and 11 seconds over second-placed Henk Lategan in the Dakar Rally, after the South African, who led by over two minutes before Thursday,

Yazeed al-Rajhi made history on Friday by becoming the first driver from host nation Saudi Arabia to win the Dakar Rally.Saudi Arabia have hosted the Dakar Rally since 2020, when it moved from South America.