Ultimate race : contenders everywhere

December 30 ^th 2026 - 21:57 [GMT + 3]

• With three victories in the last four editions, including that of the defending champion Yazeed Al Rajhi, the Toyota Hilux have clearly proven their performance level and reliability on the Dakar. Spread across several teams, many drivers representing the new generation are entering this T1+ category in pursuit of the most prestigious trophy, such as South Africans Henk Lategan and Saood Variawa; American Seth Quintero; Australian Toby Price; Portuguese Joao Ferreira; or Polish driver Eryk Goczal.
• The two most prominent official manufacturers are fielding experienced champions to try to win the opening round of the W2RC season: Nasser Al Attiyah and Sébastien Loeb are joined by world champion Lucas Moraes with the Dacia Sandriders, while Carlos Sainz leads the Ford Raptor squad with Nani Roma and Mattias Ekström.
• The Mini cars from X-raid also carry high ambitions, especially with Guillaume de Mévius and Mathieu Baumel as the leading crew. Mathieu Serradori, driving his CR7, also intends to play a major role in this royal battle.

They know the winning formula. The silhouette of the Toyota Hilux pickup has become familiar to Dakar fans since the turn of the 2000s, and its rise was marked by a first major breakthrough from Giniel De Villiers, 2ᵉ in 2012, before the most prestigious step was reached by Nasser Al Attiyah in 2019. The vehicle developed by Overdrive Racing has become a benchmark, winning a fourth time thanks to Yazeed Al Rajhi, victorious on home soil last January. The Saudi champion and his co-driver Timo Gottschalk were seriously injured in the spring and have not yet returned to top-level competitiveness during the season, but could rise to the occasion in defense of their title. The Hilux T1+ cars are in any case expected to be competitive at all levels, although spread across several different structures. The most prominent among them could be Henk Lategan, 2ᵉ of the 2025 Dakar and leader of a South African school that has also produced Saood Variawa and Guy Botterill. The new generation of promising Toyota drivers could also shine with American Seth Quintero, a formidable collector of stage wins in every category he has competed in; Toby Price, who intends to be just as competitive on four wheels as he was on his KTM motorcycles; Joao Ferreira, who is relying this year on “Toy” to improve on his 8ᵉ place; and the entire Goczal family, including young Eryk Goczal, who at 21 years old is entering the top category.

While the next generation is well represented in the Hilux cockpits, more or less recent moves have shifted the major champions toward newly arrived official manufacturers. The “Dream Team” assembled by Dacia did not reach the Dakar podium last year, but Nasser Al Attiyah came close (4ᵉ). The five-time Qatari winner narrowly missed the W2RC title (2ᵉ) and has lost none of his determination. The same is true for Sébastien Loeb, whose second half of the year has been exemplary: 2ᵉ in South Africa, 3ᵉ in Portugal, and winner of the final major rehearsal at the Rallye du Maroc. For his 10ᵉ participation, the Alsatian has never seemed so ready. He will however have to contend with the arrival in the team of Lucas Moraes, the newly crowned Brazilian world champion, who will be eagerly discovering the Sandrider in the Saudi desert. The quartet is completed by Cristina Gutiérrez.

The 2025 edition also marked Ford’s strong debut as an official manufacturer on the Dakar. And although the entry of its star driver Carlos Sainz ended early after the 3ᵉ stage, the American brand was proudly represented by Nani Roma, a stage winner, and Sweden’s Mattias Ekström, 3ᵉ in the final classification and clearly capable of aiming even higher. In addition, American Mitch Guthrie should not be satisfied with a supporting role after his 5ᵉ place on the Dakar. Podium contenders are mainly concentrated around three vehicle brands, but the experience of the X-raid team can also carry Mini drivers very high, starting with Guillaume de Mévius, 2ᵉ in 2024 and delighted to reunite with his co-driver Mathieu Baumel, who lost his right leg after a serious accident earlier this year. Finally, Mathieu Serradori, who achieved his best result in 2025 (6ᵉ) following his move to T1+, will attempt to join the battle of the giants.

STARS IN STOCK

The traditional Production category is preparing for a renaissance in 2026. Reserved for vehicles close to production models, the category renamed Stock since 2025 includes seven crews, five of them official: two for Toyota and three for Defender, expected to engage in a much-anticipated duel. Competing since 1995, the Toyota Land Cruiser Auto Body team is aiming for a 13ᵉ title with its two usual crews led by Akira Miura and Ronald Basso. Driving the new Land Cruiser GR 300 with enhanced performance, the Japanese driver, five-time category winner and defending champion, stands as the benchmark. Opposite him, the Defender manufacturer is entering for the first time in its history with three Defender Dakar D7X-R vehicles and THE Dakar star. For Stéphane Peterhansel, the record holder for victories (14 including 8 in cars), this is nothing new. In 2001, during his third Dakar in cars, “Monsieur Dakar” won the Production category driving a Nissan Dessoude. Alongside the legend, Defender has placed its trust in Rokas Baciuška, the Lithuanian prodigy and triple W2RC champion (SSV in 2022-23 and Challenger in 2024), stage winner last year on his first Dakar in Ultimate, as well as Sara Price, the female star of US desert racing in “UTV”, who animated the last two Dakar events in SSV.