claimed a sixth Dakar Rally victory in 2026, shifting to inside two wins of the outright document held by Stephane Peterhansel.
In what was probably the most aggressive Dakar campaigns in latest historical past, 10 totally different drivers representing 5 producers scored particular person stage wins, in stark distinction to final 12 months’s Toyota-dominated occasion.
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Al-Attiyah had his fair proportion of “yo-yo” swings over the course of the two-week rally-raid, however delivered when it mattered most with two essential stage victories, whereas avoiding the misfortune that eradicated lots of his closest rivals.
The primary week of the rally noticed Ford emerge as a critical contender, with all 4 of its manufacturing facility drivers exploiting the upgraded Raptor to mount a sustained problem to Toyota and Dacia.
However the American marque’s kind fluctuated sharply from everyday, with Toyota additionally affected by related inconsistency with its new-for-2026 Hilux. That volatility allowed Al-Attiyah to strike on Stage 6, the place he claimed his first win of the rally and moved to the highest of the leaderboard for the primary time.
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Regardless of that breakthrough, the battle for total honours remained vast open into the second week, and it was not till Stage 10 that Al-Attiyah started to emerge because the clear favorite.
#299 The Dacia Sandriders Dacia: Nasser Al-Attiyah
#299 The Dacia Sandriders Dacia: Nasser Al-Attiyah
suffered an identical destiny, with a 15-minute penalty for lacking a waypoint compounding his troubles.
as his solely practical challenger.
Armed with a 12-minute buffer heading into the ultimate two days, the Qatari was capable of management the closing phases and in the end attain the end line with a successful margin of 9m42s.
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Now on six Dakar victories with 4 totally different producers (Volkswagen, Mini, Toyota and Dacia), the 55-year-old stands among the many most embellished drivers within the historical past of cross-country rallying. Solely two extra victories separate him and the legendary Peterhansel, who scored eight wins within the vehicles class along with his six successes on a bike.
Additional, the outcome marked simply the second total victory for the Renault Group in Dakar, following Claude Marreau’s triumph on the Paris-Dakar Rally in 1982 with a Renault 20 Turbo 4X4. Jean-Louis Schlesser later scored two Dakar wins in self-built, Renault-engined buggies.
Dakar 2026: Stage-by-stage outcomes
Stage
Commercial
Winner
General chief
Prologue
Mattas Ekstrom (Ford)
–
1
Guillaume de Mevius (Mini)
Guillaume de Mevius (Mini)
2
Seth Quintero (Toyota)
Nasser Al-Attiyah (Dacia)
3
Mitch Guthrie (Ford)
Mitch Guthrie (Ford)
4
Henk Lategan (Toyota)
Henk Lategan (Toyota)
5
Nani Roma (Ford)
Henk Lategan (Toyota)
6
Nasser Al-Attiyah (Dacia)
Nasser Al-Attiyah (Dacia)
7
Mattias Ekstrom (Ford)
Nasser Al-Attiyah (Dacia)
8
Saood Variawa (Toyota)
Nasser Al-Attiyah (Dacia)
9
Eryk Goczal (Toyota)
Nani Roma (Ford)
10
Mathieu Serradori (Century)
Nasser Al-Attiyah (Dacia)
11
Mattias Ekstrom (Ford)
Nasser Al-Attiyah (Dacia)
12
Nasser Al-Attiyah (Dacia)
Nasser Al-Attiyah (Dacia)
13
Mattias Ekstrom (Ford)
Nasser Al-Attiyah (Dacia)
Ford driver Roma got here near securing a 3rd profession win in Dakar and first since 2014, however in the end needed to accept runner-up in his Ford Raptor.
The Spaniard misplaced time early within the week of the rally, however returned to competition when he was retroactively awarded victory on Stage 5. A crash on Stage 7 set him again once more, however he took the general lead two days later to place Ford again on the entrance.
’s Ebro, simply to succeed in the bivouac.
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#227 Ford M-Sport Ford: Nani Roma, Alex Haro Bravo
#227 Ford M-Sport Ford: Nani Roma, Alex Haro Bravo
Whereas Al-Attiyah’s victory was sealed early, the battle for the ultimate podium spot raged on between Ekstrom and Sebastien Loeb till the ultimate day.
Two-time DTM champion Ekstrom had been one of many standout performers of Dakar 2026, as mirrored by his three stage victories, plus his triumph on the Prologue. However after dropping greater than half-hour on Stage 9, he was compelled into keeping off the opposite Dacia of Loeb, who had quietly climbed his means close to the entrance with a sequence of constant performances.
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Ekstrom in the end held on to 3rd place by 37s after successful the ultimate stage, matching his finest outcome from 2023. Loeb needed to accept fourth after failing to register a stage win for less than the third time in his profession.
Fifth place within the standings went to Sainz Sr, who recovered from an unusually gradual begin to the rally to rise to second place by constant showings. However the 45 minutes he misplaced on Stage 10 in the end determined his destiny in Dakar, as he completed the rally 28m30s behind winner Al-Attiyah.
Mathieu Serradori capped off a powerful outing for Century in 2026, highlighted by his sensible victory on Stage 10 when most of his rivals faltered.
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completed seventh in his first aggressive outing with Dacia, simply over an hour off the lead.
led the Toyota contingent in eighth, narrowly beating his extra skilled team-mate Seth Quintero.
The Japanese producer arrived in 2026 with excessive hopes and flexed its muscle on Stage 2 with a 1-2-3-4-5 end. However with Quintero dropping a heap of time because of mechanical issues the next day and Saood Variawa additionally operating into hassle on Stage 7, it was successfully left with one runner within the victory battle: Lategan.
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#202 Toyota Gazoo Racing W2Rc Toyota: Henk Lategan, Brett Cummings
#202 Toyota Gazoo Racing W2Rc Toyota: Henk Lategan, Brett Cummings
The South African received Stage 4 to take the general lead and remained in competition at the same time as he battled by a number of points, together with a damaged rear damper that denied him a win on Stage 7 and an influence steering challenge that compromised him on Stage 9. Nonetheless, his luck ran out on Stage 11 when a wheel nut on the rear of his Hilux broke, costing him greater than 4 hours.
This left Value and Quintero as Toyota’s finest representatives, though Variawa additionally recovered to complete tenth.
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turned an early retiree from Dakar on Stage 4 when he withdrew because of mechanical points. The Saudi driver had already dropped out of the victory battle with a spate of punctures.
In his absence, it was Marek Goczal who emerged because the main unbiased driver in thirteenth, though it was his son Eryk who scored a breakthrough win for Toyota buyer Energylandia on Stage 9.
Whereas the X-raid Mini began Dakar 2026 with a victory, courtesy of Guillaume de Mevius, none of its drivers completed inside the highest 20 within the total standings.
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Dakar Rally – General outcomes:
1
Nasser Al-Attiyah
Dacia
48h56m53
2
Nani Roma
Ford
+9m42s
3
Mattias Ekstrom
Ford
+14m33s
4
Sebastien Loeb
Dacia
+15m10s
5
Carlos Sainz Sr
Ford
+28m30s
6
Mathieu Serradori
Century
+45m02s
7
Lucas Moraes
Dacia
+46m50s
8
Toby Value
Toyota
+52m27s
9
Seth Quintero
Toyota
+1h15m02s
10
Saood Variawa
Dacia
+1h23m36s
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