DAKAR 2026

Schareina(image above) secures podium and Ricky Brabec makes a masterstroke

It seemed Ricky Brabec was going to deliver the almost final blow today to become a three-time Dakar Rally champion in the motorcycle category next Saturday in Yanbu... but the American decided to play with strategy when he was leading Luciano Benavides by 3:47 on the track.

However, the American decided to sacrifice that advantage in exchange for a further back starting position tomorrow, theoretically to finally deliver the final blow to the race. A maneuver that didn't surprise Benavides... because Brabec had already done something similar yesterday.

Brabec may have made a masterstroke today to win the Dakar(Image above)  photo: Maciej Niechwiadowicz

Only time will tell if this move is a good one or not. The fact is that tomorrow Benavides will start third (behind two Hondas of Howes and Van Beveren - who, logically, will try to prevent him from getting any bonus seconds) and with a minuscule difference in the overall standings with the 'cowboy', who finished sixth in today's stage.

Howes' first victory...The stage win was a close call. Howes dominated throughout the day, and Van Beveren, who opened the track solo for much of the stage (later alongside Brabec), missed out on his second consecutive stage victory by just 21 seconds.

But the most interesting story was unfolding behind him, because Luciano Benavides started cautiously on terrain that didn't suit his delicate physical condition (a torn meniscus and ligament in his knee). The Argentinian admitted at the finish line that he didn't play it safe.

"It was a difficult day, with quite a bit of rough terrain, which I took calmly to avoid crashes. I didn't play it safe like Ricky did, and like he also did yesterday by stopping with Daniel and making up time later since other riders were opening the track," he complained... before acknowledging that it's all part of the Dakar: "You have to know how to play these things."

"It was a difficult day, with quite a bit of rough terrain, which I took calmly to avoid crashes. I didn't play it safe like Ricky did, and like he also did yesterday by stopping with Daniel and then making up the time later since other riders were opening the track," he complained... before admitting that it's all part of the Dakar: "You have to know how to play these games."

"These things happen." Only 23 seconds separate Benavides from Brabec, a margin that could widen considerably for the American tomorrow... and then only 105 kilometers, seemingly a formality, will remain until the finish in Yanbu.

Tosha Schareina finished fifth in the stage and consolidated his position on the podium, given that although Daniel Sanders started the stage, he was hampered and lost almost six and a half minutes to the Valencian rider, who now leads him by 8:16 in this uneven battle for third place. Canet was the best Spaniard today, 1:15 behind Howes.

Edgar Canet finished third, 1 minute and 15 seconds behind, with Luciano Benavides moving up to fourth, taking advantage of the drop in performance at the end of the race by Tosha Schareina and, above all, Ricky Brabec, who deliberately lost time in the final stages to secure a better starting position for tomorrow's long final stage.

Bradley Cox finished seventh with his Sherco, ahead of Ross Branch with his Hero. Toni Mulec won Rally 2 by just one second over Martin Ventura, taking the championship lead from Preston Campbell, who is now 2 minutes and 27 seconds behind the Slovenian in the overall standings. Despite his injury, Daniel Sanders lost only 10 minutes, finishing 13th in the special stage.

Tomorrow, the twelfth and penultimate stage of the 2026 Dakar Rally will be held, a timed 310-kilometer route between Al Henakiyah and Yanbu, the city that will crown the winners of the race the day after tomorrow.

Dakar Rally 2026: Classification of stage 11 on motorcycles:

Skyler Howes (Honda) 3h 09:02

Adrien Van Beveren (Honda) at 21s.

Edgar Canet (KTM) at 1:15

Luciano Benavides (KTM) at 3:37

Tosha Schareina (Honda) at 4:06

Ricky Brabec (Honda) at 4:56

Ross Branch (Hero) at 9:00

Toni Mulec (KTM) at 9:33

Marcim Ventura (Honda) at 9:34

Michael Docherty (KTM) at 9:38

Hat trick Ford: Nani Roma puts the Ford Raptor in first place

Nasser Al-Attiyah has done what he had to do: avoid trouble and take advantage of the fantastic strategic position he had today, in the penultimate stage of the 2026 Dakar Rally, with respect to Nani Roma and Henk Lategan, to almost seal the Dakar victory.

It's not that it's completely decided...but almost. Because it's true that the Qatari has lost 4:10 to Nani Roma, the only one who still threatens his position after Lategan lost all his chances today, but he still has a comfortable 8:40 lead over the Catalan going into tomorrow, the last stage in which to close the gap.

Barring a major problem, it seems unlikely that the Catalan will be able to pull off an upset on what is expected to be a straightforward stage tomorrow, but... the specter of a mechanical failure is always there. The good news for the five-time Dakar champion is that he'll have his two teammates right in front of him... so one of them (Lucas Moraes) can stop to escort him in case of emergency... and he'll still have Cristina Gutiérrez behind him to come to his aid, if necessary.

He already had that support today, with Loeb following in his wake and setting the pace from then on (the Frenchman had one of his best days today, being more aggressive in the rocky section) and Moraes watching his back. Neither of them had to intervene because, apart from the risk of the rocks, it was a fast and straightforward stage that didn't create any major gaps.

Nani Roma, who started a little further back today (11th), kept a good pace, although not as much as he could have extracted from his Raptor due to the traffic: "The stage went well. We tried to stay very focused, although it was difficult to pass some cars in the dust. But when we did pass, we tried to be consistent."

It was tough passing some cars in the dust. But when we did, we tried to be consistent.

Nani Roma, Ford driver...The Catalan driver saw his main rival for second place in the Dakar struggling: "We saw Lategan stopped and I feel for him. These things have happened to me and they're part of the game," he said at the finish line.

Carlos Sainz fought for the stage...Already out of contention for the overall win and taking advantage of his low starting position (18th), Sainz fought for his first stage victory in the 2026 Dakar (which would have sweetened the bitter taste left by yesterday's stage). But he had his enemy (or should we say enemy) within his own ranks.

Because both Ekström (the day's winner) and Romain Dumas, a surprising second with one of the private Fords, overtook him... taking advantage of the fact that they started even further back. "Mattias caught me on the rocks. He was going like a madman, I moved aside and matched his pace, and then I was stuck in his dust the whole time. It was nothing but rocks and dust," lamented the Matador.. 

Although struggling, Henk Lategan had managed to reach the penultimate day with a chance... but today, yet another technical problem with his Toyota proved decisive. A failure in a suspension bearing at kilometer 140 left him stuck at that point... and his podium hopes vanished completely. Dakar Rally 

2026: Classification of stage 11 in cars(below)

Mattias Ekström (Ford) 2h 47:22

Romain Dumas (Ford) at 1:22

Carlos Sainz (Ford) at 2:26

Joao Ferreira (Toyota) at 3:27

Seth Quintero (Toyota) at 4:44

Guillaume De Mevius (Mini) at 5:32

Guy Botterill (Toyota) at 5:47

Saood Variawa (Toyota) at 7:37

Sebastien Loeb (Dacia) at 8:20

Nani Roma (Ford) at 8:37

Autonews and Mundoquatrorodas