TOYOTA GAZOO Racing W2RC (TGR W2RC) suffered a crushing blow to its Dakar Rally victory challenge on the high-speed Stage 11.
One of the fastest stages of this year’s event, Stage 11 took competitors on dirt tracks over dusty plateaus from Bisha to Al Henakiyah via an 882 km route, including a 346 km timed section.
Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings were second overall going into the stage and aiming to recover time on the leader. However, a wheel bearing issue at the 140 km mark left the #202 DKR GR Hilux stranded. Without spares, they tried to proceed on three wheels, only to stop again 10 km later.
After waiting for the spare parts truck, they were eventually able to resume. Although their chances of an overall podium were now over, Lategan and Cummings demonstrated their determination by completing the remaining 200 km, albeit with a delay of almost four hours. They are now 23rd overall.
In contrast, Seth Quintero and Andrew Short enjoyed a trouble-free stage and were among the frontrunners throughout Stage 11. Fifth place saw the #203 DKR GR Hilux remain 11th in the overall standings with two stages – including 416 km of competition – remaining.
Toby Price and Armand Monleón again performed consistently. They battled through the dust to finish 13th and consolidate their top-10 overall position. The #204 DKR GR Hilux has moved up to eighth heading into the final two days of the event.
Markus Ekström and Emil Bergkvist won Stage 11 for Ford Racing, ahead of Romain Dumas and Alex Winocq (RD Limited). Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz completed the podium in third for Ford Racing. Nasser Al-Attiyah (Dacia Sandriders) retained the overall lead.
Friday is the penultimate day of the 2026 Dakar Rally. The 720 km route on Stage 12 features a variety of challenging terrain and takes crews westward from Al Henakiyah back to Yanbu, where the rally started almost two weeks ago. Yanbu hosts the final stage on Saturday, when a 105 km timed section will confirm the standings.
Henk Lategan: “It is really frustrating. This year it feels like everything that Dakar could throw at us has happened. This rally tried hard to get us down and we lost four hours on this stage, so it has finally succeeded. Every day we would get ourselves back up into a decent position. We have been pushing for so many days and trying so hard. We’ll keep going and push again tomorrow because it’s the only way we know.”
Seth Quintero: “It has been a good day for us. We started off at a decent pace. Unfortunately, we saw our good buddies and team-mates Henk and Brett waiting for parts, but we didn’t have those parts, so we continued. We made up quite a bit of time towards the end and were fifth, so that’s a pretty good result. We have a decent starting position for tomorrow and we’re still fighting for the overall top 10. Hopefully we finish the rally strongly and bring that home.”
Toby Price: “It was hard work out there but a super fun stage. We passed Henk and Brett in the stage, and it was tough to leave them there, but we didn’t have the parts he needed. The rest of the stage went well but we just couldn’t make up any time because of the dust. I’m a little disappointed with that, but I enjoyed driving at full throttle. There are a couple more days to go and it would be nice to get a stage win. The car is in good shape and the rally’s not over yet, so anything can happen. We’ll keep pushing on.”
Source: TOYOTA GAZOO Racing W2RC
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