SportsNews
Dakar 2025, Stage 11: Ekstrom tops penultimate day as Al-Rajhi closes in on victory
Ford driver Mattias Ekstrom was fastest in the penultimate stage of Dakar Rally on Thursday, while Overdrive’s Yazeed Al-Rajhi took a decisive lead over factory Toyota rival Henk Lategan.
In what was the last major test of the 2025 Dakar, competitors had to traverse 275km of dunes through the famous Empty Quarters in Saudi Arabia before halting for the night at Shubayth.
Lategan entered the weather-delayed stage with an advantage of 2m27s in the overall standings, but a tough run for the South African swung the battle in favour of Al-Rajhi, who now looks set to take a maiden victory in the rally-raid.

#200 The Dacia Sandriders Dacia: Nasser Al-Attiyah, Edouard Boulanger
© Autosport.com
Saudi driver Al-Rajhi, Ekstrom and Dacia star Nasser Al-Attiyah were in a league of their own during Stage 11, pulling almost 10 minutes clear of their nearest rivals by the finish line.
Five-time Dakar winner Al-Attiyah held the initial advantage in the new-for-2025 Dacia Sandrider, before Ekstrom pulled ahead at the 94km marker in his Ford Raptor.
Al-Rajhi took second in his customer Toyota Hilux and closed the gap to under a minute at around the halfway point, while Al-Attiyah dropped four minutes behind due to unknown reasons.
Al-Attiyah put in a mighty effort in the final part of the day to close the gap back up again, but Ekstrom held on to his position by 41s to take his fifth career stage win in Dakar.
#200 The Dacia Sandriders Dacia: Nasser Al-Attiyah, Edouard Boulanger
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
The result secured back-to-back stage wins for newcomer Ford, with the Swede’s team-mate Nani Roma having triumphed in Stage 10 on Wednesday.
Al-Rajhi had held second place for much of the day, but fell behind a charging Al-Attiyah at the penultimate checkpoint.
However, third was still a solid result for the local favourite, with overnight leader Lategan ending up 10m23s off the lead in fifth, behind the other Ford of Mitch Guthrie Jr.
That means the 43-year-old is back at the front in the general classification, 6m11s clear of Lategan with just 61km to run in the final stage on Friday.
Ekstrom now looks set to finish on the overall podium for the first time in four attempts, having moved 4m16s clear of the chasing Al-Attiyah after Thursday.
Guthrie Jr has cemented fifth in the standings, with Century’s Mathieu Serradori likewise safe in sixth after finishing inside the top 10 on Thursday.
X-raid driver Joao Ferreira remains Mini’s highest-placed rider in the overall standings in eighth, behind Overdrive’s Juan Cruz Yacopini.
Dakar 2025 – Classification after Stage 11 (Top 10)
| Pos | Driver | Car | Time/Gap |
| 1 | Yazeed Al-Rajhi | Toyota | 51h53m36s |
| 2 | Henk Lategan | Toyota | 6m11s |
| 3 | Mattias Ekstrom | Ford | 22m34s |
| 4 | Nasser Al-Attiyah | Dacia | 26m50s |
| 5 | Mitch Guthrie Jr | Ford | 59m26s |
| 6 | Mathieu Serradori | Century | 1h10m08s |
| 7 | Juan Cruz Yacopini | Toyota | 1h58m13s |
| 8 | Seth Quintero | Toyota | 2h15m59s |
| 9 | Joao Ferreira | Mini | 2h19m47s |
| 10 | Brian Baragwanath | Century | 2h53m26s |
SportsNews
EPL: Fulham must move on from defeat to Manchester City — Iwobi
Alex Iwobi says Fulham must stay positive despite their 5-4 defeat to Manchester City at Craven Cottage on Tuesday.
Marco Silva’s side put up a spirited display in the encounter, and were unlucky not to get at least one point.
Iwobi started the fight back by scoring the second goal for Fulham early in the second half.
The versatile midfielder’s compatriot, Samuel Chukwueze then rose from the bench to score two more goals for the Cottagers.
Manchester City, however, held on to go home with maximum points.
Iwobi stated that they deserved more from the game.
“I feel disappointed because we didn’t get anything out of the fighting spirit that we showed, but I think we have to take the positivity from the game,” Iwobi told the club’s official website.
Fulham will be away to Crystal Palace in their next Premier League game on Sunday.
SportsNews
EPL: Guardiola names team that impresses him everyday
Manchester City boss, Pep Guardiola has named the Premier League club that has impressed him so much this season.
The Spaniard said that Enzo Maresca’s side have really impressed him with the improvement they make everyday.
Speaking after Manchester City beat Fulham 5-4 in the Premier League on Tuesday night, Guardiola pointed out that a team must remain consistent to win the title.
Pep Guardiola’s side closed the gap at the top of the Premier League to just two points behind Arsenal with the victory over Fulham, but the Gunners could maintain their five points lead with a win over Brentford on Wednesday night.
“Chelsea impresses me more and more every day with Enzo [Maresca], but it’s long,” he told reporters after the win.
“Premier League is so long, many things will happen. We won six Premier Leagues, four or five when we in December, January or February we were behind.
“The team who wins the Premier League is the team who grows during the months and this is what we try to do. No injuries, it’s so long.
“But at the same time, if we push, we will be better and push ourselves and control the situations better, the emotions and we will see what happens.”
SportsNews
Outrage As ‘Biological Male’ Wins World’s Strongest Woman Event in Texas (Photos)
The 2025 World’s Strongest Woman final has sparked outrage after an alleged transgender athlete won gold.
American Jammie Booker, who is accused of being a biological male, beat Great Britain’s Andrea Thompson to victory at the event in Arlington, Texas.
According to Mail Online, Thompson walked off the podium, appearing to say ‘this is bulls***,’ while Booker celebrated. The Brit has since been crowned the ‘true World’s Strongest Woman’ by her coach and some of her peers.

Rebecca Roberts, a three-time winner of World’s Strongest Woman, has sensationally claimed that no one – not even the organizers – knew about Booker’s background.
Details on the American are not clear, but the publication sighted a YouTube video – uploaded to what appears to be Booker’s YouTube channel in September 2017, with Booker saying: ‘Everyone is dying to tell their own story and I am obviously no exception to that.
‘I’m 21-year-old trans woman with a history of abuse, struggling to stay true to herself while under the rule of her religious parents.’
On Monday night, Roberts posted a picture on Instagram that read ‘Protect Women’s Sports.’ She wrote alongside the picture: ‘I hold no hate toward transgender people. Everyone deserves dignity, respect, and the freedom to live their truth.

But I cannot stay silent about something that threatens the fairness and future of women’s strength sports. Transgender women, people born male, should not be competing in the women’s category.
This isn’t about identity. It isn’t about politics. It’s about the undeniable physical differences that exist in strength-based sports… differences that don’t disappear, and that matter more here than almost anywhere else. Women’s categories were created for a reason, and if we lose that, we lose the foundation of our sport.
‘What happened this weekend wasn’t transparent. None of us knew. Not even the organisers knew. And when fairness is taken by surprise, trust in the sport begins to crack.
‘My message is simple. Trans people belong in sport, but women’s divisions must remain biologically born female-only.
‘I love this sport. I have given my life to it. And I won’t ignore something that could quietly change it forever. Congratulations to @andreathompson_strongwoman… the true World’s Strongest Woman 2025’
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