The Dakar Rally convoy were thrown deep into the desert on Stage 8 for this year’s longest day of racing. A loop stage measuring close to 500 kilometres took competitors across Saudi Arabian sands in the Wadi Ad-Dawasir region. Flat-out speed was the preferred tactic for the frontrunners with every second of time a precious commodity across all race categories.
The highly anticipated battled for Ultimate class supremacy between Dacia, Ford and Toyota that was promised at the Rest Day is playing itself out in the second week. All three manufacturers are represented on the overall podium following Stage 8 and the gaps between them are razor-thin. Still leading the pack is the Dacia Sandrider of five-time Dakar champion Nasser Al-Attiyah.
« This was a difficult stage. We made a mistake near the finish that cost us around three minutes. Our overall performance on this stage was good and we didn’t lose too much time. » – Nasser Al-Attiyah
Stages 9 and 10 will form this Dakar’s second Marathon-Refuge Stage. It could be an opportunity for Al-Attiyah’s closest rivals to reel him in if they get their tactics spot on and avoid mechanical mishaps.
Ford M-Sport driver Carlos Sainz trails Al-Attiyah by 10m39s ahead of more than 800 kilometres of racing scheduled over the next 48 hours. Under marathon stage rules there’ll be no assistance from the team’s pit crews following Stage 9. This added element of unpredictability will make the next two stages fascinating to follow.
« The pace was very high again today and our own speed was very good. We’ll see what’s happening in the next couple of days when we race the second marathon stage of the rally. » – Carlos Sainz
Also behind the wheel of a Ford Raptor T1+ is Mattias Ekström and the Swede was given the job of opening today’s stage for the Ultimate class. The Swede minimised time loses during an event lap of the desert.
« It was very windy and difficult with the visibility. We had a challenging day at the front. In some places there were a lot of trees and we arrived at high speed and damaged the car a little bit. » – Mattias Ekström
Sainz’s Spanish compatriot Laia Sanz has her brand-new EBRO s800-XRR T1+ car placed inside the Top 20 with five stages left to race. The former biker had her foot down all day on the 481-kilometre loop stage in Wadi Ad-Dawasir.
« There wasn’t too much navigation on today’s stage. It was more about speed. We’re looking forward to some more technical driving on the stages still to come. Yesterday we had a small issue that slowed us down. Hopefully we can enjoy ourselves tomorrow. » – Laia Sanz
It was hard to imagine how today could be even better than yesterday for Luciano Benavides, but it was! The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider backed up his Stage 7 win with another stunning stage victory. The keys to Benavides’s success on Stage 8 were ferocious pace and expert navigation. Keeping himself ahead of the pack all day earned the Argentinian biker a total of 7m28s in time bonuses. Benavides now leads the overall rankings by 10 seconds from KTM team-mate Daniel Sanders.
« These last two stages were fast and I’ve been feeling good to push. I’m reading the roadbook well and taking good decisions. I want to keep riding like this until the end of the rally. » – Luciano Benavides
Sanders had held the overall lead since Stage 5 and will be aiming to recapture top spot on the upcoming Marathon-Refuge Stage. The Australian is expecting speed to be a decisive factor on the remaining stages in Saudi Arabia.
« It was hard to make up any time starting back in fourth because the pace was so high today. Luciano did a great job and has made the race a fair bit tighter. The second week has been a lot faster than week one so far. » – Daniel Sanders
In the Stock category Rokas Baciuška drove his Defender Dakar D7X‑R to a third stage win of this Dakar. The Lithuanian is a previous Dakar runner-up in the SSV class and looks to be steadily inching towards his first overall victory at the world’s toughest rally. This morning it was team-mate Stéphane Peterhansel who was Baciuška’s closest competitor, but the Frenchman endured a tricky Stage 8 and slipped off the overall podium.
« This was the longest stage of this Dakar, over 480 kilometres. We had everything out there, from soft dunes to rocks. Now tomorrow is the marathon and we’ll be without service for one night. » – Rokas Baciuška
In the Challenger race Dania Akeel was denied her first stage victory of this Dakar by just three seconds. The Saudi Arabian driver had her Taurus T3 Max locked in a close run battle with KTM X-Bow rival Puck Klaassen. Akeel was ultimately satisfied with yet another podium finish.
« I drove my drive and I did a good job. There’s so many good drivers in good cars in our category this year. Maybe today with the strong winds and the fast pace the advantage was not with our car. » – Dania Akeel
Stage 8 in the SSV category turned out to be Johan Kristoffersson’s best day so far at his debut Dakar. The Swedish rallycross star turned on the afterburners on the longest stage of the rally to finish fourth in class, just 20 seconds off the stage podium.
« This was definitely my best stage so far. There was some dust in places, but nothing compared to how it was last week. I’m very satisfied with the day. No mistakes and no punctures. » – Johan Kristoffersson
Unfortunately, Kristoffersson’s fellow Polaris RZR Pro R driver Gonçalo Guerreiro suffered a heavy crash on Stage 8. The Portuguese driver was airlifted from the stage and will undergo surgery on a broken arm. We wish Gonçalo a speedy recovery from his injury.
The physical, mental and mechanical challenges are coming thick and fast in this second week of the 2026 Dakar Rally. Tomorrow brings with it the first half of the rally’s second Marathon-Refuge Stage. The timed special stage of over 400 kilometres ends with a mammoth dune crossing and it’s in those dunes that the competitors will camp out for the night. The race vehicles have now been on the road for 10 days and any repairs needed at this point will have to be carried out by the competitors themselves as strict marathon stage regulations are enforced.
2026 Dakar Rally Stage 8 results
ULTIMATE – Top 3 plus selected
1. S. Variawa (RSA) / F. Cazalet (FRA) – Toyota 04:20:35
2. H. Lategan (ZAF) / B. Cummings (ZAF) – Toyota +00:03
3. M. Ekström (SWE) / E. Bergvist (SWE) – Ford +00:29
4. S. Quintero (USA) / A. Short (USA) – Toyota +00:34
5. N. Al-Attiyah (QAT) / F. Lurquin (BEL) – Dacia +00:37
6. C. Sainz (ESP) / L. Cruz (ESP) – Ford +01:29
7. G. De Mévius (BEL) / M. Baumel (FRA) – MINI +02:00
8. S. Loeb (FRA) / É. Boulanger (FRA) – Dacia +03:02
9. N. Roma (ESP) / A. Haro (ESP) – Ford +03:38…
12. M. Guthrie Jr. (USA) / K. Walch (USA) – Ford +04:56
13. T. Price (AUS) / A. Monleón (ESP) – Toyota +05:03…
16. L. Moraes (BRA) / D. Zenz (GER) – Dacia +06:32
23. L. Sanz (ESP) / M. Gerini (ITA) – Ebro +15:04…
26. C. Gutiérrez (ESP) / P. Moreno (ESP) – Dacia +21:28…
STOCK – Top 3
1. R. Baciuška (LTU) / O. Vidal (ESP) – Defender 05:06:26
2. S. Price (USA) S. Berriman (USA) / – Defender +01:44
3. A. Miura (JPN) / J. Polato (FRA) – Toyota +01:08:15…
BIKE RallyGP – Top 3 plus selected
1. L. Benavides (ARG) – KTM 04:26:39
2. D. Sanders (AUS) – KTM +04:50
3. R. Brabec (USA) – Honda +05:02…
7. E. Canet (ESP) – KTM +04:47…
CHALLENGER – Top 3 plus selected
1. P. Klaassen (NED) / A. Sanz (ARG) – KTM 04:55:38
2. D. Akeel (KSA) / S. Delaunay (FRA) – Taurus +00:03
3. P. Spierings (NED) / J. Van Der Stelt (NED) – Taurus +00:21…
8. K. Benavides (ARG) / L. Sisterna (ARG) – Taurus +05:12…
SSV – Top 3 plus selected
1. B. Heger (USA) / M.Eddy (USA) – Polaris 05:04:15
2. J. Gonzalez Ferioli (ARG) G. Rinaldi (ARG) – Can-Am +00:46
3. J. Monteiro (POR) / N. Morais (POR) – Can-Am +01:43
4. J. Krisstoffersson (SWE) / O. Floene (NOR) – Polaris +02:02
5. F. López (CHI) / A. León (CHI) – Can-Am +05:20…
Dakar Rally standings after Stage 8
ULTIMATE – Top 5
1. N. Al-Attiyah (QAT) / F. Lurquin (BEL) – Dacia 32:32:06
2. M. Ekström (SWE) / E. Bergvist (SWE) – Ford +04:00
3. H. Lategan (ZAF) / B. Cummings (ZAF) – Toyota +06:08
4. N. Roma (ESP) / A. Haro (ESP) – Ford +09:37
5. C. Sainz (ESP) / L. Cruz (ESP) – Ford +10:39…
STOCK – Top 3
1. R. Baciuška (LTU) / O. Vidal (ESP) – Defender 38:40:14
2. S. Price (USA) S. Berriman (USA) / – Defender +02:37:51
3. R. Basso (FRA) / J Menard (FRA) – Toyota +03:39:23
BIKE RallyGP – Top 5
1. L. Benavides (ARG) – KTM 33:18:50
2. D. Sanders (AUS) – KTM +00:10
3. R. Brabec (USA) – Honda +04:47
4. T. Schareina (ESP) – Honda +20:13
5. S. Howes (USA) – Honda +41:06…
CHALLENGER – Top 5
1. P. Navarro (ESP) / J. Rosa (ESP) – Taurus 36:18:05
2. N. Cavigliasso (ARG) / V. Pertegarini (ARG) – Taurus +02:02
3. L. Del Rio (CHI) / B. Jacomy (ARG) – Taurus +40:46
4. Y. Seaidan (KSA) / X. Flick (FRA) – Taurus +42:42
5. D. Zille (ARG) / S. Cesana (ARG) – Taurus +01:19:54…
SSV – Top 5
1. B. Heger (USA) / M.Eddy (USA) – Polaris 36:46:28
2. J. Monteiro (POR) / N. Morais (POR) – Can-Am +47:09
3. K. Chaney (USA) / J. Argubright (USA) – Can-Am +51:27
4. X. De Soultrait (FRA) / M. Bonnet (FRA) – Polaris +01:25:11
5. F. López (CHI) / A. León (CHI) – Can-Am +01:50:01…
QUOTES
Mattias Ekström: « It was very windy and difficult with the visibility. We had a challenging day at the front. In some places there were a lot of trees and we arrived at high speed and damaged the car a little bit. We had no punctures or navigation issues. We will see how much time we lose to the others but at least we had a lot of fun today. It felt good, for me it was a really enjoyable stage. »
Lucas Moraes: « We had one issue at the beginning and that cost us about three minutes. After that we kept going behind Seb. Then we got a puncture near the end, so it wasn’t the perfect stage for us. »
Seth Quintero: « It looks like another podium finish for us. Thanks to the great job that everybody at Toyota Gazoo Racing has been doing at this Dakar. We’ve been constantly around that Top 5 on almost every stage. It makes our one bad day all the more frustrating. »
Mitch Guthrie Jr.: « Honestly, this was a really fun stage. It had a little bit of everything. There were some dunes, rocks, wadis and everything else. I’m happy to make it to the end of another stage. »
Toby Price: « Things were really close out there again. I hit one rock and that gave us an instant flat so our time could have been a little bit better. Once again the car got a little bit battered and bruised, but underneath everything is working fine. »
Sébastien Loeb: « It was a nice stage today. We tried to push hard, but we did make one mistake in the navigation. We lost four minutes there. For the rest it was a good stage for us. »
Carlos Sainz: “The pace was very high again today and our own speed was very good. We’ll see what’s happening in the next couple of days when we race the second marathon stage of the rally. »
Nani Roma: « It was a nice battle with Nasser. We passed by each other a few times. We made a small mistake while we were in the dust of Nasser. It was a nice stage and now we’re looking forward to the marathon stage coming tomorrow. »
Henk Lategan: « It was a complicated day for us. We picked up a puncture and got a little bit lost before one of the waypoints. After that we backed off the pace a little bit. Tomorrow we’ll have everyone behind us at the start of the marathon stage. »
Guillaume De Mévius: « It was a good day for us. It was tricky in places so we didn’t take too many risks. We didn’t have to stop at all on this stage. That’s first time we’ve had a day like that at this Dakar. »
Cristina Gutiérrez: « It was a tough stage for us. We didn’t have power steering for 100km so we’re happy to make it to the finish of the stage. »
Laia Sanz: « There wasn’t too much navigation on today’s stage. It was more about speed. We’re looking forward to some more technical driving on the stages still to come. Yesterday we had a small issue that slowed us down. Hopefully we can enjoy ourselves tomorrow. »
Luciano Benavides: « These last two stages were fast and I’ve been feeling good to push. I’m reading the roadbook well and taking good decisions. I want to keep doing the same and will be pushing on the next marathon stage. »
Daniel Sanders: « It was hard to make up any time starting back in fourth because the pace was so high today. Luciano did a great job and has made the race a fair bit tighter. The second week has been a lot faster than week one so far. »
Edgar Canet: « I could see Luciano out front until I made a mistake in the mountains and I lost him. He did a really good job today. After I made my mistake I stayed calm and got back my rhythm. »
Rokas Baciuška: « This was the longest stage of this Dakar, over 480 kilometres. We had everything out there, from soft dunes to rocks. Now tomorrow is the marathon and we’ll be without service for one night. »
Dania Akeel: « I drove my drive and I did a good job. There’s so many good drivers in good cars in our category this year. Maybe today with the strong winds and the fast pace the advantage was not with our car. »
Kevin Benavides: “After winning yesterday’s stage I started today in front. Everything was going well until the first refuel. We got a puncture just one kilometre before the refuel. So we stopped to change the wheel and lost some time. After that we were fighting against the dust. »
Francisco ‘Chaleco’ López: « It was a fast stage. We got through it without any big problems so we’re happy about that. No problems with navigation and our speed was good. »
Johan Kristoffersson: « This was definitely my best stage so far. There was some dust in places, but nothing compared to how it was last week. I’m very satisfied with the day. No mistakes and no punctures. »
Christine Fial,