DAKAR 2026

Tosha Schareina wins the third stage and recovers ground

He wasn't dead. Yesterday, Tosha Schareina(image above) seemed destined for the 2026 Dakar Rally title... unless a catastrophe befell the three riders ahead of him. And that's exactly what happened today on the ninth stage. Or at least, a setback.

Because Luciano Benavides, Sanders, and Brabec fell into the navigation traps that race director David Castera had set for them earlier in the day. The Argentinian led the pack, followed by his teammate, while the American and the Spaniard started behind the orange-clad team.

But the four were already together at kilometer 84, the second checkpoint of the day. The first three had gotten lost, and the Valencian, who had followed the correct route, caught up with them much sooner than expected. This also had the added advantage of neutralizing the chances of his rivals gaining bonus seconds.

The Argentine rider opened up his trajectory too much, and his teammate, Sanders, made the same mistake, allowing Brabec to catch up, with Schareina dangerously closing in on the newly formed leading trio. Further back, Edgar Canet took advantage of his starting position (seventh) to accelerate as much as possible and set the best time. His nine-minute advantage over Benavides gave an idea of ​​the magnitude of the mistake.

The mistakes didn't stop there: after a leading quartet formed, at kilometer 84 both Hondas made a small mistake, leaving Sanders isolated in the lead. He took advantage of the situation to accumulate bonus seconds until, halfway through the special stage, Schareina caught up with him, and they formed a leading duo, leaving Brabec and Benavides behind.

From then on...the stage ended, as the four favorites for victory crossed the finish line together. Schraeina tried to impose a strong pace, opening a breakaway to take advantage of the bonus seconds... but he couldn't shake them off. At least the Spaniard opened up a good advantage over everyone.

The second position went to Daniel Sanders himself, who, after accumulating a discount of 4:43 (more than any other rider in the special stage), finished 4:35 behind the Spaniard, just 15 seconds ahead of South African Michael Docherty, who took another victory in Rally2, despite returning to the competition after abandoning in the first week.

With just 12 bonus seconds earned at the start of the special stage, Ricky Brabec secured fourth place, 6 minutes and 22 seconds behind Schareina and one minute ahead of his teammate, American Skyler Howes. Frenchman Adrien Van Beveren placed the fourth official Honda rider among the top six, although 10 minutes behind the winner.

Specifically, 4:35 for Sanders, 6:22 for Brabec and 11:50 for Luciano Benavides... which means that Schraeina is back in contention...and tomorrow he could recover even more, making his way up the track: provided he can get the bonus seconds at stake.

Today's stage will be another ordeal for Edgar Canet, who had a fantastic start, navigating perfectly and maintaining a solid advantage until he first had problems with the fuel pump and then hit the front wheel hard, losing all his chances. In addition, it is worth remembering that he will have to fend for himself, as he will not have any mechanical support at the bivouac.

Dakar Rally 2026: overall motorcycle classification:

Daniel Sanders (KTM) 37h 09:17

Ricky Brabec (Honda) at 6:24

Luciano Benavides (KTM) at 7:05

Tosha Schareina (Honda) at 15:28

Skyler Howes (Honda) at 44:15

Nacho Cornejo (Hero) at 1h 05:10

Adrien Van Beveren (Honda) at 1h 08:38

Ross Branch (Hero) at 2h 10:19

Preston Campbell (Honda) at 2h 13:59

Toni Mulec (KTM) at 2h 31:27

Ford Raptor in first and second place: Nani Roma leads and Carlos Sainz finishes second

On January 13th, when the winners of the 2026 Dakar Rally are crowned, we will likely be discussing how the ninth stage (Wadi Ad Dawasir - Marathon Refuge Camp) was the turning point of the race. And the best news is that the two Spanish drivers, Carlos Sainz and Nani Roma (Ford Raptor), were the biggest beneficiaries.

The Catalan driver is the new leader of the race (for the first time since 2014, when he won the rally)... with the Madrid native right behind in the overall standings (only 57 seconds behind). It could have been a little better, as both received penalties for speeding (one minute for Roma and 1 minute and 10 seconds for Sainz). But both did what they had to do: complete the first stage of the marathon without errors and capitalize on the mistakes of their rivals... which were numerous and serious.

The most significant mistake was made by Nasser Al-Attiyah, who committed an embarrassing navigation error after the halfway point of the stage, around kilometer 273, where he lost almost 11 minutes (and thankfully so, because he was 14 minutes behind Sainz). At that same point, another favorite, Mattias Ekström, also fell into the trap (the Swede lost 17 minutes to his Ford teammate).

Henk Lategan also had difficulties, with a problem early on with the power steering pump on his brand new GR Hilux DKR. The South African, as they say, was very lucky, as he managed to replace it during the pit stop... which was unplanned and ended up happening unexpectedly yesterday. He then recovered a considerable amount of time, finishing the race just under 10 minutes behind Sainz.

Nani Roma also benefited from this pit stop, because when they reached that point he had already suffered two punctures... and without the pit stop, his Dakar could have ended today (remember that Al-Rajhi abandoned the race due to three punctures right at the beginning of the marathon of the first week).

The good news for Nani and Sainz is that, in addition, tomorrow's starting order will not be bad for them, as they will have seven riders ahead of them: Eric Goczal (who put on a real show to win the special stage), Michal Goczal (Eric's uncle), Toby Price, Brian Baragwanath, Guillaume de Mevius and Cristina Gutiérrez, who had a phenomenal special stage.

Nasser Al-Attiyah Dakar(Dacia) 2026-image above  photo: MACIEJ NIECHWIADOWICZ

Consequently... the overall race classification is tight. Roma is in first place, only 57 seconds ahead of Sainz... but only 1 minute and 10 seconds ahead of Nasser Al-Attiyah. And Lategan continues to be close behind, 6 minutes and 13 seconds behind. The race is getting complicated for Ekström, who is now 11 minutes and 19 seconds behind his Ford teammate.

Sébastien Loeb, who started in the best position among the favorites today, failed to take advantage of the opportunity and lost time to everyone... except Ekström. The cause: a failure in the power steering (the same problem that Cristina Gutiérrez suffered yesterday) 200 kilometers from the finish (the Frenchwoman arrived at the finish line completely exhausted). The Swede and the Frenchwoman were undoubtedly the most affected by today's crucial stage.

Tomorrow, the second marathon-refuge of the 2026 Dakar Rally will conclude with a 420-kilometer special stage for cars and 368 kilometers for motorcycles. And, once again, the routes will be different.

Dakar Rally 2026: Overall car classification:

Nani Roma (Ford) 36h 44:01

Carlos Sainz (Ford) at 57 seconds.

Nasser Al-Attiyah (Dacia) at 1:10

Henk Lategan (Toyota) at 6:13

Mattias Ekström (Ford) at 11:19

Sébastien Loeb (Dacia) at 21:06

Toby Price (Toyota) at 26:49

Lucas Moraes (Dacia) at 36:49

Mathieu Serradori (Century) at 41:04

Cristina Gutiérrez (Dacia) at 49:22

Autonews and Mundoquatrorodas