DAKAR 2026

Sainz sticks to the plan: avoids the stones without puncturing his tire and plays hide-and-seek

The dreaded first cobblestone section wasn't so bad... at least for some. Al-Rajhi, Lategan and Loeb struggled with two punctures before the pit stop, but most managed to execute their plan for the section.

The Ford drivers managed this clearly by lifting their foot off the gas (even Ekstrom gave up a stage win he already had guaranteed) and others, like Guillaume de Mevius (Mini), took the opportunity to push to the last meter, achieving a well-deserved stage win (and the Dakar lead).

Guillaume de Mevius (Mini)--image above

Ekstrom led the timesheets in all sections except the first (km 28), where Seth Quintero (Toyota) was the benchmark, but soon lost performance due to a puncture. However, after the pit stops, when the drivers had a better sense of their positions, a new race began.

Sainz plays hide-and-seek... However... it seems the veterans played differently. For example, Carlos Sainz, who has already stated that his plan would be not to push too hard today in order to start further back tomorrow, something he considers an advantage.

And so he executed: "It was a good stage for us, no problems...and no punctures, although there were a lot of rocks. We were quite cautious, so I imagine they will come faster from behind now," he said before knowing his final position of the day, fifth, 1:54 behind De Mevius.

Nani Roma tried the same approach..but was not satisfied with the strategy: "We were in third place at the pit stop and then I tried to reduce the speed... but I don't feel comfortable doing that. I can't ride without speed; in some sections, I was 50 or 60 kilometers per hour slower than I could be, and that's where I made several mistakes." The rider from Folgueroles was satisfied because, at least, he managed to follow the plan without major consequences.

In some sections, I was driving 50 or 60 kilometers per hour slower than I could; I can't drive like that.

Nani Roma, Ford driver...The Toyotas and some Dacias were the most penalized on the cobblestones. Cristina suffered a puncture right at the beginning (km 20), Loeb had two before the pit stop, and Nasser Al-Attiyah admitted that, seeing the Frenchman struggling, he chose to conserve energy so as not to take risks (also because a position further back the next day would be favorable to him)... although he himself did not have any punctures.

Moraes also escaped...although at the cost of being very cautious in the rocky area, to the point of getting stuck at one point. Tomorrow the second stage of the 2026 Dakar Rally will begin, starting in Yanbu and finishing in Al-Ula, one of the classic locations since the rally moved to Saudi Arabia. In total, the drivers will cover 504 kilometers, of which 400 will be timed sections.

Just like today, there will be a moment in the middle of the day when the cars will need to change tires, as the percentage of rocks on the course will be even higher than today.

Dakar 2026---Car classification, stage 1

Guillaume de Mevius (Mini) 3h 07m 49

Nasser Al-Attiyah (Dacia) 40 seconds behind.

Martin Prokop (Ford) at 1:27

Mattias Ekström (Ford) at 1:38

Marek Goczal (Toyota) at 1:38

Carlos Sainz (Ford) at 1:54

Guy Botterill (Toyota) at 2:03

Nani Roma (Ford) at 2:37

Mitch Guthrie (Ford) at 2:50

Sébastien Loeb (Dacia) at 3:03

Edgar Canet secures his second Dakar victory in 2026 after Ross Branch's penalty

The Spaniard Edgar Canet, who yesterday became the youngest winner in the history of the race after winning the prologue, secured his second consecutive victory thanks to a penalty imposed on Botswana's Ross Branch, who had initially recorded the best time. Australian Daniel Sanders, the big favorite for the overall victory, finished second, with Spaniard Tosha Schareina in fourth.

With the starting order determined by the prologue times, Emirati Mohammed Al-Balooshi had the task of opening the race, after finishing last in the RallyGP. However, his pace was far behind the rest of the elite group, and he barely managed to gain a few bonus seconds at the first checkpoint, passing it right behind Lorenzo Santolino, who had already overtaken him.

The Sherco rider didn't hold the lead for long either, as Nacho Cornejo came flying in on his Hero and took the lead, quickly becoming isolated and flying all the way to the finish line to accumulate up to four bonus seconds.

Naturally, the stage victory was much further away: Edgar Canet recorded the best time in the first kilometer and Daniel Sanders in the second; but from then on it was the Botswanan Ross Branch who took the lead and, with his proverbial speed, gained kilometers and distanced himself from the KTM duo.

He continued until the clock stopped at 3 hours, 14 minutes and 50 seconds, securing the victory in the 305-kilometer special stage starting and finishing in Yanbu, beating the Spaniard Edgar Canet by 1 minute and 21 seconds. However, shortly afterwards, reports emerged of a possible speeding violation committed by the Hero rider.

About an hour later, Branch's 6-minute penalty was confirmed, giving Edgar Canet his second consecutive stage victory, finishing 1 minute and 5 seconds ahead of Australian Daniel Sanders and 1 minute and 32 seconds ahead of American Ricky Brabec, thus repeating yesterday's prologue podium.

Tosha Schareina finished fourth, with Argentinian Luciano Benavides completing a top five composed of official Honda and KTM riders. Behind them were the Hero bikes of Nacho Cornejo and Ross Branch, who dropped to seventh. Adrien Van Beveren was eighth, with Michael Docherty securing another Rally2 victory – ahead of Portuguese rookie Martim Ventura – and Skyler Howes completing the top ten.

Among the other Spanish participants in the 2026 Dakar Rally, Lorenzo Santolino finally managed to break into the top 20, with Arnau Lledó as the best Spaniard in the Rally2 category and in 31st place, just ahead of Javi Vega, second in the Original category, where Josep Pedró finished third.

DAKAR 2026 - STAGE 1 RESULTS

1 Edgar CANET KTM 3h16'11''

2 Daniel SANDERS KTM +1'02''

3 Ricky BRABEC Honda +1'32''

4 Tosha SCHAREINA Honda +1'49''

5 Luciano BENAVIDES KTM +3'47''

6 Nacho CORNEJO Hero +3'48''

7 Ross BRANCH Hero +4'39''

8 Adrien VAN BEVEREN Honda +5'52''

9 Michael DOCHERTY KTM +8'58''

10 Skyler HOWES Honda +10'27''

Autonews and Mundoquatrorodas