Nasser Al-Attiyah secured his sixth Dakar victory piloting a Dacia Sandrider after a drag-out fight against the Ford Raptors, as KTM’s Luciano Benavides snatched the bike title in a nail-biting finish against Honda’s Ricky Brabec.
The last day of the grueling 13-stage event, held in the Yanbu region along Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast, featured a compact but intense 105-108 km timed special on gravel tracks and mountainous terrain, serving as the final showdown after nearly 8,000 km of punishing desert racing.
For the cars, Al-Attiyah and co-driver Fabian Lurquin in the #299 Dacia Sandrider started the day with a substantial 15-minute buffer over second-placed Nani Roma, allowing the Qatari veteran to manage his pace strategically while still pushing for the stage win.
Despite losing seven minutes in the stage to finish down in 31st, Nasser Al-Attiyah secured his sixth Dakar victory with a final margin of 9m42s ahead of Roma.
Meanwhile, Mattias Ekstrom and co-driver Emil Bergkvist in the #226 Ford Raptor T1+ delivered a standout drive to claim Stage 13 win, elevating the duo to third overall by a slim 29-second margin over Sebastien Loeb in the second #219 Dacia Sandrider.
Carlos Sainz Sr. and Lucas Cruz in the sister #225 Ford Raptor delivered a solid fifth overall, 2m35s adrift, underscoring the Spaniard’s enduring competitiveness at age 64 even without a stage win in this year’s event.
Mathieu Serradori in the #214 Century CR7 secured sixth overall after finishing fourth in Stage 13, while Lucas Moraes claimed seventh for Dacia.
Toby Price was the best Toyota in eighth overall, with teammates Seth Quintero and Saood Variawa rounding out the top ten in a rally plagued by the Japanese marque’s inconsistency with the new-for-2026 model.
Benavides seals Dakar Rally 2026 victory after Brabec error
Shifting to the bikes, Luciano Benavides on the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing machine executed a flawless tactical masterclass to wrest the overall lead from overnight leader Ricky Brabec.
Stage 13’s 108 km sprint along the Red Sea evoked classic Dakar finishes with Benavides starting second, chasing Brabec who held a 3m20s advantage entering the day after a conservative Stage 11 stop to open the road.
Benavides powered to second on stage behind teammate Edgar Canet, capitalizing on Brabec’s critical navigation error just 7 km from the finish, which dropped the American to 10th and flipped the standings by just two seconds.
This marked Benavides’ first Dakar win in nine attempts, KTM’s 21st bike title, and reunited him with brother Kevin’s prior successes in 2021 and 2023.
While KTM snagged the overall lead, the Honda armada shone with Tosha Schareina claiming third overall, 25 minutes back, while teammate and Dakar Stage 11 winner Skyler Howes took fourth.
KTM’s defending champion Daniel Sanders defied a broken collarbone and sternum from Stage 10 to claim fifth overall, just ahead of Honda’s Adrien van Beveren.
Hero MotoSports impressed with Jose Ignacio ‘Nacho’ Cornejo seventh and Ross Branch eighth, the latter posting competitive splits despite the rally’s brutality.
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