Dania Akeel: “I guess this becomes more about your risk appetite”

Dakar 2026 | Stage 11 | BISHA > AL HENAKIYAH
January 15 ^th 2026 - 16:07 [GMT + 3]

With the third fastest time of the day among the Challenger class, today Dania Akeel came up 1'03’’ short behind Nico Cavigliasso. She has two days left to try and finish her Dakar with a stage win under her belt.

 “It’s an interesting game because a lot of things depend on where you are on the track, so if you have a dusty day, it’s really difficult, unless you like to take a lot of risks. So, I guess this becomes more about your risk appetite than your driving skills when it’s a dusty day. Otherwise, I’m glad to be in the race with two stages left and having fun driving. I really don’t know what to expect, it’s a surprise every day. I think winning a stage really depends on chance. You drive your best every day and every day we’re finishing in the top 5 of the stages more or less. The rest is out of our hands. We were around 10 seconds behind Nico and then a T1 appears out of the blue and it’s impossible to catch Nico because I was in his dust. […] You can’t close the gap like that unless you want to take a risk. Honestly, this game is fun because it makes you work but there is a lot outside of you that affects things. So, I genuinely can’t tell you if I will have a stage win. I will drive for it every time and I drive fast, but I don’t know”.