Nasser Al-Attiyah has secured his sixth Dakar Rally crown, marking a milestone victory for Dacia. Meanwhile, in the Bikes category, Luciano Benavides won the by just two seconds in a dramatic finale.
Nasser Al-Attiyah has won the Dakar Rally for the sixth time. The Qatari driver has now won the ‘World’s Toughest Rally’ with four different manufacturers: Volkswagen (2011), Mini (2015), Toyota (2019, 2022, 2023), and now Dacia (2026).
This marks the first-ever Dakar victory for Dacia. The Sandrider T1+, developed by the Dacia/Renault Group in collaboration with Prodrive, has proven itself a winning machine in only its second competitive outing. It is also a maiden Dakar triumph for Al-Attiyah’s co-driver, the Belgian Fabian Lurquin. (Article continues after the image.)
The car category podium was completed by two Ford drivers, with Nani Roma finishing second ahead of Mattias Ekström in third.
Ekström began the final stage with a 29-second advantage over Sébastien Loeb in the battle for third place. The Swede held off Loeb in the final stage thanks to a stage win, ultimately fending off Loeb by 37 seconds.
Bikes: Benavides wins by just two seconds after dramatic finale
The most dramatic finish of the rally occurred in the Bikes category, where Luciano Benavides (KTM) snatched victory at the eleventh hour. On the relatively short final special of 105 kilometres, the Argentine managed to claw back 3 minutes and 22 seconds from Ricky Brabec (Honda). (Article continues after the image.)
The turnaround meant Benavides secured his first Dakar title by a margin of just two seconds over the American. Brabec made a crucial navigational error just seven kilometres from the finish line, costing him over three minutes. After more than 49 hours of racing, the two riders were separated by the narrowest margin in the event’s history. Tosha Schareina (Honda) completed the podium in third.
Trucks: Žala triumphs as Van den Brink secures podium streak
In the Truck (T5) category, victory went to Vaidotas Žala. Aleš Loprais led a Team De Rooy one-two in the standings ahead of Mitchel van den Brink, who stepped onto the podium for the third year in a row. (Article continues after the image.)
Van den Brink had been firmly on course for his first overall Dakar win until the tenth stage, where the Dutchman lost over an hour due to a broken driveshaft. He eventually finished the rally 29 minutes and 3 seconds behind the winner, Žala. (Article continues after the image.)
Challenger: Success for Navarro and Taurus
Pau Navarro won the Challenger (T3) class, leading a Taurus podium lockout ahead of Yasir Seaidan and Nicolás Cavigliasso.
Remarkably, Navarro claimed the overall title without winning a single stage. Furthermore, the Spaniard competed without the latest ‘Evo’ version of the Taurus T3 Max. (Article continues after the image.)
Stock and SSV: Defender dominance and Polaris victory
In the Stock (T2) category, Rokas Baciuška took the honours, leading a Defender one-two with Sara Price finishing second. Ronald Basso took third for Toyota. ‘Monsieur Dakar’ Stéphane Peterhansel endured a difficult rally plagued by setbacks in his Defender Dakar D7X-R, eventually finishing fourth in class. (Article continues after the image.)
In the SSV class (T4) for production-based buggies, Brock Heger claimed the overall win for Polaris. His fellow American Kyle Chaney finished second for Can-Am, while Xavier de Soultrait (Polaris) rounded out the T4 podium.
Photos: Red Bull Content Pool, A.S.O.
