RALLY DAKAR 2026

SSV: Brock Heger (Polaris RZR) unstoppable

Brock Heger / Max Eddy (Polaris Rzr Pro R), the reigning champion and undisputed overall leader with over an hour's advantage, secured their fifth stage victory in the 2026 Dakar Rally – even though this time he had to work hard to achieve it – while his teammate Xavier De Soultrait / Martin Bonnet (Polaris Rzr Pro R) completed a Polaris one-two finish.

The narrative of the special stage was marked by an intense battle between Heger and de Soultrait, who alternated in the lead for practically the entire journey. At 46 km, Heger held the provisional best time, with de Soultrait just six seconds behind, while Jeremias Gonzalez Ferioli / Gonzalo Rinaldi (Brp Can-Am Maverick R) placed the first Can-Am in third, 50 seconds behind. The pace was high from the start, with Kyle Chaney / Jacob Argubright (Brp Can-Am Maverick R) and Joao Monteiro / Nuno Morais (Brp Can-Am Maverick R) — second and third overall respectively — lurking close behind, while Francisco Lopez Contardo / Álvaro Leon (Brp Can-Am Maverick R) lost time from the start.

Heger's advantage remained solid until the 155km mark, when the American comfortably led with de Soultrait 38 seconds behind. However, at the 196km mark, the situation unexpectedly reversed: it was de Soultrait who took the lead, pulling away from Heger by 16 seconds and placing himself 1m39s behind González Ferioli, in a lap that suggested the victory would be decided between the two Polaris. At kilometer 239, de Soultrait further extended his dominance, posting the best time of the stage up to that point and benefiting from the technical problems that forced João Monteiro to stop, allowing him to provisionally climb onto the podium in third place overall.

But Heger was not willing to give up. At kilometer 320, the reigning champion counterattacked decisively, regaining the lead of the special stage and pushing de Soultrait into second place. From there, the American controlled the stage calmly, consolidating his advantage until kilometer 386, where a margin of about one minute separated him from his teammate. González Ferioli remained in third place, but more than five minutes behind, while "Chaleco" López accumulated disadvantages, falling almost nine minutes behind at the end.

In the end, Heger crossed the finish line with his fifth stage victory, even though de Soultrait had pushed him to the limit throughout the special stage. The final margin of 1m15s reflected the intensity of the battle between the two Polaris. Ferioli was third, more than five minutes behind the reference point.

In the overall SSV classification, the impact was devastating for the competition. Heger's fifth victory dramatically extended his lead: the American now leads by more than an hour over Kyle Chaney, who remains in second place, isolated. Xavier de Soultrait, also benefiting from João Monteiro's problems, moved up to third place provisionally in the overall standings, now 1h20m54s behind Heger. For Polaris, it was a practically perfect day, reaffirming its technical and competitive dominance in a category where Heger, with five wins in ten stages, is proving to be a virtually unbeatable contender for the overall title.

The Portuguese rider João Monteiro dropped to fifth position, in a stage that did not go his way, finishing in 16th place, losing nearly an hour and a half. Hélder Rodrigues / Gonçalo Reis (Polaris Rzr Pro R Sport) were the seventh fastest (16th overall in the SSV category), while Bruno Martins / Eurico Adão (Polaris Rzr Pro R Sport) and João Dias / Daniel Jordao (Polaris Rzr Pro R Sport) had not yet completed the stage at the time of writing.

TRUCKS: Zala(FPT Nordis) takes the lead in the 2026 Dakar Rally with three days to go

Vaidotas Zala(image above) is the new leader of the 2026 Dakar Rally in the truck category, navigated by the Portuguese Paulo Fiúza. The duo, who also have mechanic Max van Grol on board, climbed to the top in the tenth stage, this Wednesday (January 14).

Second place in the 418 km timed stage was enough for this improvement in the standings with only three days left until the end of the rally.

The truck, an Iveco from Team de Rooy, was 1 minute and 37 seconds behind the fastest of the day - Ales Loprais, also from Team de Rooy and driving an Iveco.

At the start of the stage, the leader in the standings was Mitchel van den Brink (MM Technology), who lost almost an hour and ten minutes on the course.

In the overall standings, the trio led by Vaidotas Zala and with Paulo Fiúza on board holds a significant advantage of 18 minutes and 55 seconds over Ales Loprais, with van den Brink now third, more than half an hour behind.

Mitchel Van Den Brink / Bart Van Heun / Jarno Van De Pol (Iveco Powerstar), the overall leader with a 35-minute advantage before the start, lost a lot of time in the first few kilometers, turning what promised to be a consolidation stage into a real battle for survival in the title race.

At just 46 km, Loprais set the best provisional time, with Vaidotas Zala / Paulo Fiuza / Max Van Grol (Iveco Powerstar) only seven seconds behind. Van den Brink, who had started after Žala, had not yet reached the first intermediate point, making it impossible to make a clear assessment of his performance at that initial stage. However, when the Dutchman finally appeared in the times, the news was devastating: van den Brink had lost 42 minutes in the first sector, a collapse that immediately reversed the virtual general classification hierarchy. Žala, taking full advantage of his direct rival's misfortune, assumed the virtual lead with an advantage of more than 8 minutes and 30 seconds over van den Brink, who suddenly found himself relegated to a chasing position instead of a dominant one.

The fight for the day's victory, however, concerned Loprais and Žala. At kilometer 91, Loprais lost the lead of the special stage to Žala, who had attacked. At kilometer 121, the Czech returned to the top and consolidated his position. Žala remained close, but unable to definitively close the gap.

As the special stage progressed, Loprais managed with composure. At kilometer 155, the advantage was 52 seconds; at kilometer 196, it was already over a minute, putting Žala 1 minute and 10 seconds behind; At kilometer 281, the Czech rider further increased his lead to 1 minute and 37 seconds, making it clear that his control was effective. Further back, Martin Macík held third place, but about thirteen minutes behind Loprais, while van den Brink remained eighth in the special stage, accumulating a significant disadvantage.

In the end, Loprais crossed the finish line in Bisha with his fourth stage victory of the season—a result that consolidated a remarkable recovery after a difficult first week. Žala finished second, 1 minute and 37 seconds behind. The victory was particularly significant for Loprais, not only for the speed he demonstrated, but also for taking advantage of the opportunity created by van den Brink and Macík's problems to reaffirm his presence at the top of the category.

Tomorrow, the 11th stage connects Bisha to Al Henakiyah, with 347 km of timed sections. The standings could be decided the following day, with 310 km of competitive stages, as the final stage is only slightly over 100 km long and may not be enough to close the gap – unless incidents or breakdowns occur.

by Autonews