Ford’s Mattias Ekstrom claimed a dramatic victory in Dakar Rally 2026 Stage 7 after mechanical woes struck frontrunner Henk Lategan, while KTM’s Luciano Benavides dominated the bikes class.
The fast and unforgiving 876-kilometer special stage from Riyadh to Wadi Ad-Dawasir, part of the rally’s second week following a rest day in Riyadh, tested drivers and riders with its mix of high-speed dirt trails, deceptive navigation challenges, and hidden hazards that demanded unwavering concentration.
Toyota’s Henk Lategan set a blistering pace early on, building a lead of nearly two minutes at the 375-kilometer checkpoint and briefly seizing the provisional overall lead from Nasser Al-Attiyah.
Mattias Ekstrom and co-driver Emil Bergkvist in the #226 Ford Raptor T1+ maintained steady pressure in second, methodically closing gaps on the dusty tracks where visibility often turned treacherous due to dust clouds kicked up by preceding vehicles.
Joao Ferreira driving the #240 Toyota Gazoo Racing SA machine alongside co-driver Philippe Roux, shadowed closely in third, while Mitch Guthrie and co-driver David Gilmore shadowed closely in the sister #228 Ford, contending for a podium sweep.
However, disaster struck Lategan and co-driver Brett Cummings roughly 40 kilometers from the finish when their #202 Toyota Hilux GR clipped a sharp dip, triggering mechanical failure that forced them to stop for over 10 minutes for repairs amid the isolation of the desert.
The setback erased Lategan’s commanding advantage plummeting him to 13th place, handing Ekstrom stage 7 win which also propelled the Swede into second overall behind leader Al-Attiyah.
“We were having a really nice day and then there was one section, it was a small bump and then a dip, and as we hit the dip it broke the damper,” Lategan said after the stage. “It broke the damper shaft clean off in the middle and that was it, the car was hanging on one side.
“We were carrying a spare damper so we stopped, took the old one out and then had to put a new one in. But yeah, it does a lot of damage when it breaks as well, so there’s bits and pieces you have to cut off and get out of the way. It took a bit of time to fix that.”
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Ferreira and Guthrie also capitalized on the reshuffle to snag second and third place, respectively, with the latter bolstering Ford’s podium sweep potential while closing gaps in the general classification where he sits seventh.
Toby Price charged the #204 factory Toyota to fourth, just six seconds off the podium, as co-driver Paul Weel delivered precise navigation preventing a repeat of prior mechanical gremlins that had plagued the team.
Lucas Moraes and co-driver Edgard Kazan led the Dacia Sandriders in fifth, followed closely by teammate Sebastien Loeb and co-driver Fabian Lurquin in sixth.
Seth Quintero took seventh in the #203 Toyota Hilux, while Century Racing’s Mathieu Serradori and co-driver Loic Minaud delivered a consistent run to finish eighth amid a ten-second penalty.
Carlos Sainz Sr. and Lucas Cruz placed the #225 Ford Raptor in ninth place as Nani Roma and co-driver Alex Haro made it four Fords in the top 10. Roma was also declared the Dakar Stage 5 winner after FIA overturned his 1m10s overspeeding penalty.
Nasser Al-Attiyah in the #299 Dacia Sandrider retained his overall lead through a cautious 11th-place stage finish, with Eryk Goczal taking 12th in the #205 Energylandia Toyota Hilux.
Shifting to the bikes, Red Bull KTM’s Luciano Benavides dominated Dakar Rally 2026 Stage 7 with a time of 4:00:56, blitzing teammate Edgar Canet by 4m47s.
Adrien Van Beveren claimed third for Monster Energy Honda HRC, just 10 seconds shy of Canet, as the podium highlighted KTM and Honda’s strategy—riders conserving for optimal start positions in upcoming stages.
Overall leader Daniel Sanders, aboard the #1 Red Bull KTM, played it safe in fourth preserving his slim 4m25s advantage over Honda’s Ricky Brabec who retains second overall despite finishing 10th.
READ MORE:
Dakar Rally 2026 Stage 6: Nasser Al-Attiyah wins over Sebastien Loeb as Dacia dominates
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