The Dakar at halfway: Yanbu is still far away!

January 10 ^th 2026 - 19:35 [GMT + 3]

244 entries out of an original 317 have survived the prologue and six stages held since the show got on the road in Yanbu and remain eligible for a finisher's medal, with a further 45 starting the return trip under Dakar Experience rules after failing to complete part of the route. A total of 93 riders (11 in RallyGP and 82 in Rally2), 141 car crews (58 in Ultimate, 36 in Challenger, 40 in SSV and 7 in Stock) and 40 truck crews will resume their journey tomorrow morning. While some early trends have emerged, fog of war still permeates the battlefield of the 48th edition. The reigning champion and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing leader, Daniel Sanders, is back in the overall lead, but the competition has still got plenty of fight in it, particularly Monster Energy Honda HRC, which has Ricky Brabec in second place and Tosha Schareina in fourth. The five-time winner Nasser Al Attiyah and his Dacia Sandrider have laid down a marker in the fight for the car title, but his margins are slimmer than ever. Henk Lategan (second) is keeping the flame alive for the Toyota Hiluxes following the withdrawal of the national hero Yazeed Al Rajhi, while the Ford Raptors have a pack of three inside the top 5, all within 12 minutes of the Qatari leader. On the fringes of the main race, 94 vehicles mostly from the 20th century remain in contention in the Dakar Classic regularity race. The Lithuanian Karolis Raišys and the Frenchman Christophe Marques hold the lead in their Land Rover. The seven vehicles in the Dakar Future Mission 1000 challenge have also got six stages left to put their cutting-edge tech to the test in the Saudi desert and contribute to alternative fuel research.

Motorbikes: Sanders on top of things

Daniel Sanders, the favourite to defend his crown, has lived up to his billing throughout the first half of the rally. The reigning champion was happy to let his young teammate Edgar Canet hog the limelight at the beginning of the week, biding his time until he saw the opportunity to drop the hammer and storm to the top of the provisional ranking. In fact, Sanders would have had a much wider moat than his current 45-second margin over Ricky Brabec had he not been stung by a six-minute penalty for speeding between Hail and Riyadh.

Behind the Australian, the American riding for Honda has also had a solid first week. Brabec has yet to claim his first victory, but he has managed to steer clear of trouble and remains a serious contender for the trophy. Further afield, Luciano Benavides and his KTM hold the bottom step of the provisional podium, about ten minutes from the two men at the top of the board. Lacking a bit of sharpness, the Argentinian has been a cut below the two other former winners in the field, but he still managed to claim stage 5.

Benavides, who tends to get stronger with every passing special, remains within striking distance, 10′15″ behind the leaders and ready to pounce on any opening. Tosha Schareina, just within twelve minutes of Sanders, is also a force to be reckoned with. The Honda factory rider picked up two stage wins in the opening week and seized the lead in AlUla. Unfortunately, he was then slapped with a ten-minute penalty for failing to follow basic procedure when exiting the bivouac-refuge in the marathon stage.

Ignacio Cornejo reached the rest day in fifth place, about half an hour down. The Hero rider, who has not been on the same level as the riders ahead of him in the provisional ranking, is banking on his consistency to fight for a podium spot in Yanbu.

Edgar Canet stole the show after the start, bagging the prologue and stage 1. The young Spaniard, who has been promoted to RallyGP with the KTM factory team this year, went toe to toe with Sanders for a long time before wrecking his rear tyre in the second half of the marathon stage. Now 59th overall, Canet will have to settle for more stage wins at best.

Ross Branch also faded in the marathon stage after an impressive start, as did Skyler Howes, who pushed his rear tyre too hard in stage 4, and Adrien Van Beveren, whose difficulties matching the pace of the leaders were compounded by bad luck. He is now almost an hour adrift.

Meanwhile, the American rookie Preston Campbell is spending the rest day perched at the summit of the Rally2 standings. The Honda rider, ninth overall, has stayed out of the weeds so far, unlike Tobias Ebster, who had to quit with a hand injury after stage 3; Michael Docherty, who broke his rear wheel; Harith Noah, who crashed out of the race; Neels Theric, who had a calamitous prologue; and his own teammate Martim Ventura, who struggled in stage 5.

Campbell has just over fifteen minutes in hand over the Slovenian Toni Mulec and his KTM. Konrad Dąbrowski, third at 23 minutes from the American leader, is still in the mix too.

CARS: AL ATTIYAH LEADS WITH NO ROOM FOR ERROR

Gauging the relative strength of the various drivers and manufacturers has been easier said than done. The pendulum of fortune has swung from one side to another between Yanbu and Riyadh. Guillaume de Mévius and Mathieu Baumel landed a poignant victory on their return to the Dakar less than a year after the French navigator had had his right leg amputated following an accident. It did not take long, however, for the top Mini X-raid crew to crumble under a hail of punctures.

Seth Quintero led home a battalion of five Toyota Hiluxes in stage 2, a historic performance not seen since 2007, but the “Toys” were unable to keep it up: Yazeed Al Rajhi also fell prey to punctures, while Ferreira, Price and Quintero plummeted down the standings. Henk Lategan, second overall at 6′10″ from Nasser Al Attiyah, is their last hope of victory.

Looking at the other rivals of the five-time winner, the Ford Raptors are no longer the dominant force they were after stage 3, when Mitch Guthrie seized the lead and the Blue Oval locked up the top 5 (another feat not seen since 2007). Even so, the works team has three crews on the prowl in the top 5: Nani Roma, third at 9′13″ from Al Attiyah, Carlos Sainz, fourth at 11′49″, and Mattias Ekström, fifth at 12′11″.

After two sub-par performances (DNF in 2024 and fourth in 2025), some had begun to believe that Nasser Al Attiyah would soon have to yield his Dakar throne to a new generation of rally-raid drivers. The Qatari disabused them of that idea by stamping his authority, nay, his wheels on the sand of stage 6. It was a red-letter day for him, with sand and dunes galore for more than 300 km… Paradise for Al Attiyah.

His advantage may be relatively small, but keep in mind that Al Attiyah converted a lead on the rest day into overall victory in each of his last four triumphs. In fact, the Dacia leader has gone on to win the race every time he has held the lead at the halfway point, although the differences are smaller than ever. Mattias Ekström, fifth, is 12′11″ down, compared to an average margin of 1 h 37′45″ between drivers nos. 1 and 5 in the last 25 editions! To further complicate matters, the Qatari’s teammate Sébastien Loeb, known for his epic comebacks, is sixth at 17′36″.

Further back, the two-wheel drive competition is boiling down to an internecine war at MD Rallye Sport, with just 12 minutes separating the leader, Simon Vitse, and his closest pursuer, Christian Lavieille. Meanwhile, Defender has filled the field with awe at the arrival of its Dream Team. Rokas Baciuška has emerged as the manufacturer’s top dog after taking the lead in stage 1. He now has a 44-minute buffer over Stéphane Peterhansel, who certainly did not take the easy way back to the Dakar.

The same goes for Sara Price, whose mishaps in stage 1 provided an opening for Ronald Basso and his Toyota Land Cruiser to get onto the provisional podium.

Challenger: Navarro emerges from the chaos

The Challenger race has been more open than ever since the rally got under way in Yanbu, with six stage winners and three overall leaders in seven specials. Stage 6 only added to the suspense, as Pau Navarro moved into the lead before the rest day, building on his metronomic consistency and racking up one solid finish after another without ever flopping. The Spaniard’s approach is paying dividends and he will be starting the second week with a small buffer of 5 minutes over his closest rival, Nicolás Cavigliasso. The reigning W2RC and Dakar champion nabbed his sixth Challenger stage win in stage 4 and stands ready to strike at any chink he can find in Navarro’s armour. Racing with his wife, “Valen” Pertegarini, in the right bucket seat, the Argentinian has charted a path to victory and is determined to add another Bedouin trophy to his collection. Yasir Seaidan was the big loser of the first week. The Saudi, the first local driver to hold the overall lead in the Challenger class, seemed poised to reclaim the top spot on Friday. He posted the fastest time at km 204, only for a mechanical problem to cost him 48 minutes and dash his hopes. He went from challenging for the title to spinning his wheels 45 minutes from the leader. The class has also shone a light on Puck Klaassen, the fifth woman to win a stage of the Dakar, and Ignacio Casale, who secured his 24th career win (quad and Challenger classes combined) aboard his Taurus T3 on Friday.

SSV: Heger a paragon of consistency

Halfway into the 48th Dakar, Brock Heger has been the man to beat in SSV. The returning champion has left the competition fighting for scraps since the lights turned green in Yanbu. The American set the tone with his second consecutive triumph in a prologue. After bagging another two stage wins along the way, the Californian has a whopping 33 minutes in hand over his closest rival as the field enjoys the rest day. Further back, his teammate Xavier de Soultrait spearheads the resistance. The 2024 winner proved he still had it with victories in stages 1 and 6, but the Frenchman has lost a sizeable chunk of time and needs his leader to slip up at some point if he is to reclaim the throne. The Polaris duo have the top two spots in a vice grip, underlining the dominance of the American marque. The duel between Polaris and Can-Am has been the highlight of the opening week. As it stands, the Canadian manufacturer’s nine-strong contingent has taken a single win, courtesy of Kyle Chaney. “Chaleco” López and Jeremías González Ferioli have launched one attack after another, but nothing has stuck so far. The Argentinian, who triumphed twice in Riyadh last year, missed another shot at victory when he had to stop in sight of the finish line on Friday. A fierce battle awaits in the second week.

Trucks: Macík’s pain is Van den Brink’s gain

Stage 6 reshuffled the deck in the truck race. The two-time winner and returning champion, Martin Macík, had a horrible day at the office on Friday, shaking up the pecking order ahead of the rest day. It was a dramatic reversal of fortune for the Czech driver, who had steamrolled the opposition on the road to AlUla in stage 4, seized the overall lead and seemingly cemented his grip on the race. It all changed on the 331 km special between Hail and Riyadh. A long stop knocked Macík off-course in his bid for a three-peat. By the time he limped across the finish line, he was 35 minutes down on the “new” leader, Mitchel van den Brink. The 24-year-old Dutchman, who had already prevailed in the prologue and stage 3, is back in the hot seat for the first time since the beginning of the week. Solid and consistent, the driver of an MM Technology truck tuned by Macík himself is in the pole position going into the closing week of the Dakar. Further back, Aleš Loprais is basking in the glory of his 20th Dakar stage win, which came on Friday. He is now third overall. The ever-consistent Vaidotas Žala is just outside the provisional podium. A shade over ten minutes separate the top 3.

DAKAR CLASSIC: A DEFIANT DEFENDER

94 pre-2005 vehicles have made it to the rest day out of the 97 that started the sixth edition of the Dakar Classic. One of the three DNFs is Lorenzo Traglio in Nissan no. 701, who had been seen as one of the favourites after taking the runner-up's spot twice. It was a grievous blow for the Tecnosport squad, whose pick-up truck refused to start for stage 6, the last one of the opening week. Karolis Raišys rules the roost in Riyadh. The Lithuanian picked the French navigation instrument specialist Christophe Marques as his navigator and “Defender whisperer”. The pair have spent half of the stages at the apex of the hierarchy. The Dakar Classic, however, is not a boys’ club. Currently on the podium are two couples in life and in the cockpit: the Italians Marco Leva and Alexia Giugni, racing in a Pajero (+97 points), and the only returning winners, Juan Morera and Lidia Ruba, still chasing their dream of winning in a Porsche 959 replica (+131 points). Another Defender, this one with the Frenchmen Maxence Gublin and Anthony Sousa (+165 points) on board, remains within striking distance after two days in the lead. The second week features a higher dose of “super-regularity”, a mix of navigation (exact mileage between two points) and regularity (target time between two points) introduced in 2026, so there will be plenty of surprises. The parade where Lac Rose comes to life on the shores of the Red Sea is still a distant mirage!