DAKAR 2026

SSV: De Soultrait(RZR Factory Racing/Polaris) triumphs in stage six

Xavier de Soultrait (Loeb Fraymedia Motorsport RZR Factory Racing/Polaris) was the strongest of the day in the SSV category, beating Kyle Chaney (Can-Am) by 2:07 seconds. Gonçalo Guerreiro (Loeb Fraymedia Motorsport RZR Factory Racing/Polaris) finished fourth, just ahead of the Portuguese duo João Monteiro/Nuno Morais (Can-Am). Brock Heger (Loeb Fraymedia Motorsport RZR Factory Racing/Polaris) maintained his overall lead with more than 32 minutes of advantage, while Monteiro/Morais are the best of the Portuguese drivers in fourth, 57m59 seconds behind the leaders.

Xavier de Soultrait won stage 1 and repeated the feat today by winning the day's special stage in the final sprint, overtaking Jeremias Ferioli, who stopped a dozen kilometers from the finish line. The Frenchman, who is in 2nd place in the general classification, recovered more than 6m40s over his teammate Brock Heger, who still maintains a solid 33-minute advantage on the eve of the rest day.

Ignacio Casale (BBR Motorsport/Taurus) won the Challenger category ahead of Dania Akeel (Odyssey Academy by BBR/Taurus), with the Portuguese duo Pedro Gonçalves/Hugo Magalhães (BBR Motorsport/Taurus) in 11th place. Pau Navarro (Odyssey Academy by BBR/Taurus) leads the category by about five minutes, while Pedro Gonçalves and Hugo Magalhães are among the Portuguese drivers in tenth position, more than two hours behind Pau Navarro.

Dakar 2026 SSV - Stage 6 Top 10:

1. Soultrait Xavier - Bonnet Martin - Polaris RZR Pro R Rally

2. Chaney Kyle - Argubright Jacob - Can-Am Maverick R

3. Lopez Francisco - León Álvaro - Can-Am Maverick R

4. Guerreiro Gonçalo - Justo Maykel - Polaris RZR Pro R Rally

5. Monteiro João - Morais Nuno - Can-Am Maverick R

6. Heger Brock - Eddy Max - Polaris RZR Pro R Rally

7. Dias João - Jordão Daniel - Polaris RZR Pro R Sport

8. Andujar Manuel - Frini Andrés - Can-Am Maverick R

9. Berezovskiy Denis - Ardavicius Artur - Can-Am Maverick R

10. Vayssade Florent - Rey Nicolas - Polaris RZR Pro R Rally

Loprais wins Dakar stage 6 in trucks. Mitchel van den Brink takes overall lead

Aleš Loprais prevailed in the dunes of Saudi Arabia and won the sixth stage of the 2026 Dakar in trucks, on the route from Hail to the capital Riyadh, aboard #602. The Czech driver drove the special stage flawlessly to open a 1min58s advantage over Vaidotas Žala and achieve the 20th victory of his career in the main event of the world rally.

Mitchel van den Brink, however, arrived in Riyadh in second position, but was relegated to third place due to a penalty, which put him 2min46s behind the leader Loprais. Richard De Groot and Kay Huzink completed the top-5 of the stage.

On the other hand, the special stage this Friday (9) turned into a nightmare for Martin Macík, who had won the fifth stage. While Van den Brink took the lead in the overall Dakar classification, opening up a 15-minute advantage, the Czech rider ended up stopping at the 308 km mark and only managed to resume the race much later, losing precious time and ending up in sixth position.

Martin van den Brink came right behind, in seventh, with Michal Valtr, Teruhito Sugawara and Claudio Bellina filling the remaining positions in the top 10.

With Mitchel van den Brink in the lead, the overall Dakar classification also includes Macík and Loprais in the top 3. Žala and De Groot complete the group of the top five in the table. Kay Huzink and Martin van den Brink appear right behind.

The riders and teams rest this Saturday (10) and the 2026 Dakar Rally continues on Sunday (11), with the riders leaving Riad towards Wadi ad-Dawasir, covering the 462 km timed stage of the seventh stage.

Dakar Rally 2026, general classification of trucks after 6th stage:

1-M VAN DE BRINK/B VAN HEUN/J VAN DE POL Eurol Rallysport 28:04:08

2-M MACIK/F TOMASEK/D SVANDA MM Technology 28:39:32 00:35:24

3-A LOPRAIS/D KRIPAL/J STROSS Instatrade Loprais Team De Rooy 28:50:18 00:46:10

4-V ZALA/P FIUZA/M VAN GROL Nordis Team De Rooy 28:50:27 00:46:19

5-R DE GROOT/M VAN ROOIJ/J HULSEBOSCH Firemen Rally Team 29:52:33 01:48:25

6-K HUZINK/R BUURSEN/G SCHONEVELD Kuipers Jongbloed Hybrid 30:15:09 02:11:01

7-M VALTR/L KVASNICA/R KAPLANEK Valtr Racing Team 31:37:18 03:33:10

8-T SUGAWARA/H SOMEMIYA/Y MOCHIZUKI Hino Team Sugawara 32:23:52 04:19:44

9-M VAN DEN BRINK/P WILLEMSEN/R MOUW Eurol Rallysport 32:34:09 04:30:01

10-B DE GROOT/A HOFMANS/G BOOGAARD ​​De Groot Sport 34:17:35 06:13:27

by Autonews