Benavides and Guthrie win in Hail

Dakar 2026 | Stage 5 | BIVOUAC REFUGE > HAIL
January 8 ^th 2026 - 13:22 [GMT + 3]

• It was already evident that Mitch Guthrie’s performances owed nothing to chance. The American driver today provided clear confirmation of his talent by winning a second stage of the Dakar Rally in the Ultimate class, two days after his first victory. After 371 kilometres against the clock, Guthrie junior completed the return leg of the marathon stage just four seconds behind Nani Roma but the Spaniard was hit with a one-minute speeding penalty. As a result, the two team-mates have flown the Ford flag high in the top two places, with another Raptor completing the day's podium, driven by Martin Prokop, who is definitely improving with his change of vehicle this year.
• Henk Lategan was confronted with a navigational challenge this morning on the second part of the marathon stage for which he opened the way without the tracks of the bikes. It was the trickiest task of the week for the South African but he finally accomplished it with a certain amount of efficiency: despite losing 12’43’’ on the way to Hail to Guthrie, the (very isolated) Toyota team leader has hung on to the lead in the overall rankings.
• In a similar situation and hot on the heels of Lategan from the start, Nasser Al Attiyah also lost time in his Dacia but only 3’17’’ to the stage winner before a special tomorrow that is deemed to be crucial.
• In the overall rankings, the insolent health of the Raptors was made especially clear, with four representatives in the top 6: Mattias Ekstrom 5’38’’ behind the leader, Nani Roma 6’59’’ down, Carlos Sainz trailing by 8’33’’ and Guthrie à 16’23’’ behind.
• Nevertheless, the positions suggest a particularly open battle for the final special of the week, covering 300 kilometres of dunes. In 7th and 8th position in the overall rankings, the Dacias driven by Lucas Moraes (17’11’’ behind) and especially Sébastien Loeb (trailing by 17’55’’) are both capable of getting back into the game.

• Some bikers have a knack for riding under the radar and then popping up when you least expect them. It has almost become a speciality for Luciano Benavides, who, for example, became world champion without having won an event in 2023 and who also picked up two consecutive stages on the Dakar last year before finishing at the foot of the podium (in 4th place). The Argentinean repeated a similar feat to set the fastest time over the 356 kilometres of the special, climbing, for the first time in his career, into the top 3 of the overall rankings, 5’55’’ behind his leader in the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team.
• Daniel Sanders took advantage of the route to Hail to regain the lead in the rally. With the fourth best time, 5’50’’ behind his team-mate, the title holder may have reaped the rewards of a strategy developed within the KTM clan. He will take starter’s orders on a stage almost entirely made up of dunes in a favourable position with possibly an ally for navigating through the second part of the route.
• The special also enabled two other riders to put in their best performances of the week: Nacho Cornejo took 2nd place on his Hero, 3’51’’ behind Benavides, while Bradley Cox finished 7’22’’ after the day’s winner, in 4th place, equalling his best performance in five participations on the Dakar (achieved on stage 1 in 2024).
• Each of the two leading teams also had their share of disappointments today. For KTM, the spectacular start enjoyed by Edgar Canet (with victories on the prologue and first stage) seem a distant memory after the problems that disrupted his day, beginning with the foam melting on his rear wheel. Though the time he lost is not yet known, it is clear that he can wave goodbye to competing at the forefront of the rally.
• For Monster Energy Honda HRC, Ricky Brabec is displaying first-class consistency, perhaps to the extent that he can lay claim to being team leader, following a major blunder by Tosha Schareina. The Spaniard held his own on the tracks but received a 10-minute penalty for forgetting to leave the bivouac-refuge between the flags. This breach of the rules has dropped him off the provisional podium into 4th place and he will now have to make up a deficit of a dozen minutes on Sanders to be in with a shout for outright triumph. Adrien Van Beveren, who has already experienced difficult days on this edition, hit a new low today after having lost more than half an hour, partially due to a wire that got stuck in his wheel after 88 kilometres. When your luck is out, it really is out…
• Ross Branch also had a tough day and is now far off the summit of the overall rankings, 1 hour and 23 minutes behind Sanders.