Nasser survives scare, Luciano benefits Brabec slip
Qatari Nasser Al Attiyah and Belgian Fabian Lurquin survived a late scare to take their Dacia Sandrider to victory as Nasser scored his sixth Car victory. Bike leader Ricky Brabec was less fortunate as when got lost in the final 20 kilometres to hand Argentine Luciano Benavides a sensational two-second overall Bike victory.
Al Attiyah and Lurquin opened the road on Saturday’s final 105 km dash around Yanbu, Saudi Arabia after Attiyah scored his record 50th Dakar day win Friday, but lost 8 minutes in the day’s third sector. The winners consolidated from there on in to ultimately finish well down the day order, but they did enough to claim that sixth overall victory by almost ten minutes from Spaniards Nani Roma and Alex Haro.
Their German factory Ford Raptor teammates Mattias Ekström and Emil Bergkvist won the final day to pip French nine-time World Rally Champion Sébastien Loeb and Édouard Boulanger’s Dacia to third overall. Toyota duo Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings were third from Century Racing crews Matthieu Serradori and Matthieu Baumel and Brian Baragwanath, with Carols Sainz and Luis Cruz’ Ford Raptor sixth.
Nani Roma held onto second for Ford
Al Attiyah previously won in 2011 with Volkswagen, 2015 for Mini and driving a Toyota in 2019, 2022 and 2024. It is former airline pilot Lurquin’s first Dakar car win. Roma in second has won Dakar on both two and four wheels, while Ekstrom in third and fourth placed Loeb are still chasing their maiden Dakar wins. Four-time Dakar winner Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz made it three Factory Ford Raptors in the top five.
Behind them, it was an incredible sixth for minnow South African manufacturer Century’s Factory CR-7 driven by French crew Mathieu Serradori and Loïc Minaudier. Competing on a tiny fraction of the budget of the top factory teams, Serradori and Minaudier even won a stage en route as they held seventh placed Brazilian Lucas Moraes and Dennis Zenz off in another Dacia.
Aussie former bike winner Toby Price and Armand Monleon’s Overdrive machine was best of the army of Hiluxes in ninth from American teammates Seth Quintero and Andrew Short on a disappointing Dakar for Toyota. By contrast, US crew Mitch Guthrie and Kellon Walch saw to all four factory Ford Raptors ending in the top ten.
A disappointing Dakar for Toyota
Behind them, South African champion Saood Variawa and Frenchman Francois Cazalet were the best of the SVR Hiluxes in eleventh with teammates Brett Cummings and Daniel Mena 16th and Portuguese crew, João Ferreira and Filipe Palmeiro 19th. South Africans Brian Baragwanath and Leonard Cremer were fifteenth overall in the second Century Factory CR-7.
Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings dropped 19th after challenging for to the overall lead for much of the distance before a issue slowed their Overdrive Hilux. And SA navigator Stuart Gregory was 58th alongside German Jurgen Schroder in a WCT Amarok.
Double former Bike winner Kevin Benavides celebrated brother Luciano winning the 2026 Bike race by taking the T3 Challenger day driving his Taurus alongside Lichi Sisterna. Spaniards Pau Navarro and Jan Rosa however took a 25 minute overall win from Saudi home hero Yasir Seaidan and Xaver Flick and Argentine pair Nicolas Cavigliasso and Valentino Pertegarini’s similar machines. Dutch-South African lass Puck Klaassen and Argentine Augusto Sanz’ KTM T3 Challenger ended a fine fifth overall with a stage win en route.
Benavides took a sensational 2-minute Bike win
Portuguese duo Joao Monteiro and Nuno Moraes scored a surprise final T4 SSV win but nothing would stop US crews Brock Heger and Max Eddy’s Polaris to take an hour’s win from Kyle Chaney and Jacob Argubright’s Factory Can-Am with French Polaris duo Xavier de Soultrait and Martin Bonnet third. South Arican notes man Brett Cumming ended 17th in US driver Lawrence Janseky’s Can-Am.
Lithuanian Rokas Baciuska and Oriol Vidal toon the final Stock class day in another Land Rover Defender 1-2-3. It was however only a 1-2 overall as US crew, lady star Sara Price and Sean Berriman followed from French crew Ronald Basso and Julien Menard’s Toyota Land Cruiser after Mr. Dakar, Frenchman Stéphane Peterhansel and Michaël Metge Stock’s fourth placed Defender was slowed through the week.
Just half an hour separated the top three Trucks as Dutch trio Mitchel van den Brink Bart van Heun and Jarno van de Pol’s MMT won the day, but it was ono enough to stop Lithuanian Vaidotas Zala, Paulo Fiuza and Max van Grol and Ales Loprais, David Kripal and Jiri Stross from taking an Iveco 1-2 ahead of them. South African mechanic Grant Ballington in Czech Tomas Tomecek’s Tatra was 20th overall two paces clear of Mozambican Paulo Oliveira navigating in Spaniard Alberto Herrero’s Scania.
Brabec lost win within sight of the finish
Benavides’ sensational two-second overall Bike victory for KTM came when overnight leader Brabec and his Honda appeared to have his hat trick of wins sewn up as he shadowed main rival Benavides into the final 21 km sector of Saturday’s short 107 km loop in a 3 minute 42 second overall lead. It was not to be.
Opening the road, Brabec got lost in that final sector, losing 3 minutes 44 seconds to allow the 30 year old KTM rider Benavides to steal an incredible 2 second victory after two weeks and 5000 kilometres of racing! It’s Benavides’ first Dakar Bike win as he uniquely joins former two time winner, brother Kevin in a Dakar family double 2026 is also KTM’s 21st Dakar victory, while 34-year old Brabec missed adding to his 2020 and 2024 successes.
It was also a very good day for South African Rally 2 privateer Michael Docherty, who scored his ninth of fourteen Dakar 2026 stage wins on Saturday. Docherty ended fourth overall behind day winner Edgar Canet’s KTM,Benavides and third overall Honda rider, Spaniard Tosh Schiarena. A tyre trouble on his BAS KTM earlier in the race cost Docherty any chance of a definite class victory.
SA’s Michael Docherty won Nine Rally 2 Stages
Behind him, French Honda rider Adrien van Beveren ended fifth on Saturday to secure fourth overal. Ahead of teammates Skyler Howes, Rally 2 man Martim Ventura as Brabec came in a provisional eighth on the day.
Overall, Skyler Howes ended fifth from 2025 winner and injured early leader Aussie Daniel Sanders’ KTM. Adrien van Beveren and Hero Moto duo Chilean Ignacio Cornejo followed from Motswana Ross Branch. South African Bradly Cox was the only Sherco rider to make the distance ninth in Rally GP. He finished behind Rally 2 top three Slovenian Toni Mulec’s KTM and Honda Juniors Preston Campbell and Martim Ventura. Benjamin Melot’s KTM won no-service Original from Josep Pedro’s Husqvarna.
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