The opening week of the 2026 Dakar Rally has been a wild ride. Over 4,000 kilometres have been covered across rocks and sand in Saudi Arabia. Competitors who made it to the Rest Day in Riyadh took a well-deserved break from racing, but the engines will roar once again tomorrow on Stage 7. It’s been a dramatic first week and the remaining seven stages promise a memorable finish in Yanbu on Saturday, January 17. Let’s recap the biggest takeaways of the first week...
1. It’s hard to remember a bigger battle for the lead in the Ultimate class during the Dakar’s near 50 years of existence. Not only do we have a Top 10 all with a realistic shot at winning this rally, there’s three different manufacturers occupying the overall podium. Five-time Dakar winner Nasser Al-Attiyah put his Dacia Sandrider in top spot by winning Stage 6. The Qatari is joined on the overall Ultimate podium by Henk Lategan’s Toyota Hilux and Nani Roma’s Ford Raptor T1+.
“I like to see so many different manufacturers doing well at the Dakar. At the beginning MINI was leading, then Toyota, then Ford and now Dacia. We’ll be pushing hard in the second week of this Dakar to make sure we come out on top.” – Nasser Al-Attiyah
Elsewhere in the mix are Roma’s Ford M-Sport team-mates Carlos Sainz, Mattias Ekström and Mitch Guthrie Jr. With 2,500 kilometres left to race between Riyadh and Yanbu there’ll be plenty of movement on the leaderboard during the rally’s second week.
“I think it’s nice to have three different teams all in the front. At the Rest Day we see many drivers close together with the possibility to go for the win. It shows that our discipline is in a good status. I’ll do all I can to win and I’m ready to push in the second week.” – Carlos Sainz
Watch F1 sensation Isack Hadjar shifts gears and take the wheel of Ford’s Dakar Rally charger!
2. Dacia and Ford are racing their second editions of the Dakar after making their debuts 12 months ago, but for Defender this is a first roll of the dice in the deserts of Saudi Arabia. The Defender Dakar D7X‑R has impressed in the first week with a string of Stock class stage wins. Enjoying himself behind the wheel of his Defender has been 14-time Dakar winner Stéphane Peterhansel. Monsieur Dakar was tempted out of retirement by the Defender project and he’s clearly happy with his decision.
“When you start a new program to bring a car to the Dakar it’s always complicated. We did 6,000 kilometres of testing before this rally, but still you have some apprehension at the start. Things have been running well for us and we are placed one and two in the Stock category and our other car is in fourth overall. Apart from our positive stage results we are also really enjoying to drive the car, this is the most important thing of all.” – Stéphane Peterhansel
3. Nobody races the Dakar because it’s easy. Eight-time World Rallycross champion Johan Kristoffersson knew he was taking on a challenge like nothing else in motorsport when he entered his Polaris RZR Pro R into the SSV class. The Swede may have ended up on his roof during the Prologue Stage, but he’s battled back and is still in the race ahead of week two.
“I was worried that my first Dakar would be like jumping from a plane without a parachute, but I’ve had so much support. Ahead of the second week I’m feeling surprising fresh and ready to get going again.” – Johan Kristoffersson
Joining Kristoffersson in the Rest Day bivouac in Riyadh were a pair of his World Rallycross rivals. Timmy and Kevin Hansen were checking out the machinery and getting a feel for the rally. Could we see the Swedish brothers trying their hand at the world’s toughest rally in the future?
“It’s my first time inside the Dakar Rally bivouac and I”m so lost! So it’s not just racing on the stages where you can get lost, you can also easily get lost in this huge bivouac. I’m seeing really professional teams with great setups. It’s gets me very hungry to sit in one of these cars in maybe two or three years.” – Kevin Hansen
4. Two-time Bike champion Kevin Benavides is not done with the Dakar despite retiring from racing on two wheels. The Argentinian is back in the deserts of Saudi Arabia, this time competing on four wheels in the Challenger class. The first week has been a steep learning curve, but things ended on a high. Stage 6, which happened to fall on his birthday, saw Benavides record his best result so far. This podium finish has given the Taurus T3 Max driver renewed confidence for the challenges still to come.
“It was amazing to finish third in the Challenger class on Stage 6 to finish the first week. We had a few tough days in the first week. The last stage was all in the sand and it was fun. For me, sand is my favourite terrain. We start the second week with a lot of energy and motivation.” – Kevin Benavides
5. Daniel Sanders is in pole position to make it back-to-back Bike wins. The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider leads the general classification despite being hit with a six-minute penalty on Stage 6. If Sanders can maintain his lead all the way to Yanbu he’ll be the first rider to win two-in-a-row since Marc Coma did it over a decade ago.
“Going into the second week, the focus is on being cleaner, sharper and making better decisions in the navigation so we can really make the most of what we have.” – Daniel Sanders
Tomorrow morning is the time for all competitors still standing to get that race face back on! It’s another long, long day to get the second week of the 2026 Dakar Rally started. Stage 7 runs from Riyadh to Wadi Ad-Dawasir, featuring 462km of special stage in addition to a liaison route of 414km. The energy reserves that have been refreshed by the Rest Day will start to be depleted immediately on a predominately fast stage that will require 100 percent concentration throughout. It'll be a major wake-up call to anyone who thinks that they already have this Dakar beaten.
Press: Red Bull Desert Wings
Photo: © Kin Marcin/Red Bull Content Pool
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