The 2026 Dakar Rally began to stretch it’s legs on Stage 1 with over 300km of racing over the rock fields surrounding Yanbu. Perilous terrain was waiting to take a big bite out of the convoy as they were plunged into the deep end at the world’s toughest rally. Let’s see who managed to keep their heads above water…
It was Guillaume de Mévius and Mathieu Baumel who put the hammer down hardest on Stage 1 of the Ultimate class battle. The duo dodged all obstacles in their path, bringing their MINI JCW Rally 3.0i back to the Yanbu Start Camp Bivouac in first place overall. It’s an incredible achievement considering their participation at this Dakar was thrown into serious doubt when Baumel was forced to have his right leg amputated last year.
« Winning a stage always feels good, but it wasn’t really our strategy for the day. Tomorrow, Mathieu and I will be opening and I’m very happy about that. With Mathieu on my right, I’m not worried about opening a special. » – Guillaume de Mévius
Nasser Al-Attiyah got his Dacia within 40 seconds of De Mévius’s front-running vehicle. The Qatari gave us an insight into his tactics for tomorrow’s 400-kilometre special stage that will bring the convoy to Al-Ula.
« We were pushing, but then we saw Seb with two flat tyres so tried to take it easy. Then Guillaume passed us and we stayed behind him all the way. Tomorrow I will start three minutes behind Guillaume and we can push. » – Nasser Al-Attiyah
Also finding themselves in a strong position to attack on the mountainous tracks that await tomorrow are the four Ford Raptor T1+ crews. Mattias Ekström, Carlos Sainz, Nani Roma and Mitch Guthrie Jr. all find themselves in the Top 10 and will be out to turn the screw on Stage 2.
« There’s 25 really fast drivers and 14 days of racing so you have to take care of your own business while keeping an eye on everybody else. » – Mattias Ekström
Rally organisers placed a pitstop midway through the stage for four-wheel competitors due to the sheer amount of sharp rocks on the route. Top drivers including Sébastien Loeb, Toby Price, Cristina Gutiérrez, Laia Sanz, Henk Lategan and Seth Quintero all got their tyres sliced on Stage 1 as the Dakar showed its teeth during the first long stage of 2026.
« It’s like driving on razor blades out there! » – Seth Quintero
Leading the charge for the debutant Defender team in the Stock class on Stage 1 was Rokas Baciuška. The Lithuanian set the Stock category’s fastest time to create a piece of Dakar history. Baciuška is now the only World Rally-Raid Championship driver to win stages in Ultimate, Challenger, SSV and now Stock divisions.
« There’s a lot of dust out there because the Stock category starts each day at the back. I’m used to driving in the dust from my days driving SSV so that might help me out this year. Tomorrow will be another tough day so we’ll see how we deal with it. » – Rokas Baciuška
First to leave the Start Camp Bivouac this morning were the bikers with the leading contenders hitting the stage at 8am. Prologue victor Edgar Canet of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing maintained his impressive pace to make it back-to-back stage wins. 20-year-old Canet is making his debut in the Dakar’s RallyGP category for elite bikers and it’s so far, so good for the Catalan.
« I did a good job with the navigation, I just got lost for a little bit. You need to take care in the rocks not to destroy yourself or destroy your bike. » – Edgar Canet
Also taking a spot on the Stage 1 podium was Canet’s KTM team-mate Daniel Sanders. The 2025 Dakar champion kept his head despite being attacked by sandstorms while racing for over three hours.
« It was really windy and my helmet was catching a lot of wind so it was hard to focus. » – Daniel Sanders
Harith Noah and Mohammed Balooshi both endured tough days on the bike. Indian rider Noah was airlifted to hospital in Riyadh due to back injuries following a crash. We wish Harith a speedy recovery from his injuries. Meanwhile, Balooshi also suffered an accident during the stage, although he was able to bring his Honda CRF 450 to the finish line.
« At the refuelling a doctor tried to fix my finger and knuckle. I rode this 300km stage unable to grip since kilometre 20. I just tried to survive. This is Dakar! » – Mohammed Balooshi
There was plenty of rock and rolling in the Challenger class with Dania Akeel arriving to the finish of Stage 1 with the driver’s side door ripped off her Taurus T3 Max. Despite some superficial damage to the machine, both Akeel and her BBR team-mate Kevin Benavides stayed within 10 minutes of early category leader David Zille.
« I’m not sure what happened with the door because we didn’t hit anything. Maybe there was something loose. We had one puncture so we lost some time changing the tyre. It was also very dusty with so many Ultimate cars around us. But that’s part of the game. Thanks to my co-driver Sébastien for a great stage. » – Dania Akeel
After today’s 305-kilometre loop around Yanbu it’s still very tight at the top of the SSV class. Francisco ‘Chaleco’ López won the SSV race at the Dakar in both 2019 and 2021. After Stage 1 in 2026 the Chilean is just four minutes off leader Xavier De Soultrait, with Gonçalo Guerreiro a further 30 seconds behind.
« We need to keep working hard to reach the finish of this rally. It was very tough on the rocks today so I’m happy with the time we posted. » – Francisco ‘Chaleco’ López
Showing grit and determination worthy of the Dakar was eight-time World Rallycross champion Johan Kristoffersson. The Swede did not get his Dakar debut started as he wanted when his Polaris RZR Pro R ended up on its roof during the Prologue. However, Kristoffersson dusted himself down and took his place on the start line of Stage 1. Despite eating a lot of dust, the rookie recorded the day’s 13th best time in the SSV class.
For tomorrow’s Stage 2 the convoy depart Yanbu and the shores of the Red Sea, heading inland towards the treasures of Al-Ula. Competitors hoping to establish an early race rhythm will be frustrated by the constantly evolving terrain under their wheels. Every brief section of flat out speed is quickly followed by a technical section over the rocks. As with Stage 1, a midway pitstop has been added for four-wheel competitors to attend to any punctures suffered on the rocks.
Stage 2 terrain: 52 percent gravel, 26 percent sand and 18 percent stones.
2026 Dakar Rally standings after Stage 1
ULTIMATE – Top 3 plus selected
1. G. De Mévius (BEL) / M. Baumel (FRA) – MINI 03:07:49
2. N. Al-Attiyah (QAT) / F. Lurquin (BEL) – Dacia +00:40
3. M. Prokop (CZE) / V. Chytka (CZE) – Ford +01:27
4. M. Ekström (SWE) / E. Bergvist (SWE) – Ford +01:38
6. C. Sainz (ESP) / L. Cruz (ESP) – Ford +01:54
8. N. Roma (ESP) / A. Haro (ESP) – Ford +02:37
9. M. Guthrie Jr. (USA) / K. Walch (USA) – Ford +02:50
10. S. Loeb (FRA) / É. Boulanger (FRA) – Dacia +03:01
11. L. Moraes (BRA) / D. Zenz (GER) – Dacia +03:34
15. C. Gutiérrez (ESP) / P. Moreno (ESP) – Dacia +05:00
16. T. Price (AUS) / A. Monleón (ESP) – Toyota +05:17
17. H. Lategan (ZAF) / B. Cummings (ZAF) – Toyota +06:57
18. S. Quintero (USA) / A. Short (USA) – Toyota +07:18
26. L. Sanz (ESP) / M. Gerini (ITA) – Ebro +16:26
STOCK – Top 3 plus selected
1. R. Baciuška (LTU) / O. Vidal (ESP) – Defender 4:04:59
2. R. Basso (FRA) / J. Menard (FRA) – Toyota +06:49
3. A. Miura (JPN) / J. Polato (FRA) – Toyota +08:18
4. S. Peterhansel (FRA) / M. Metge (FRA) – Defender +48:49
BIKE RallyGP – Top 3 plus selected
1. E. Canet (ESP) – KTM 03:27:42
2. D. Sanders (AUS) – KTM +01:05
3. R. Brabec (USA) – Honda +01:37
5. L. Benavides (ARG) – KTM +05:08
44. M. Balooshi (UAE) – Honda +58:48
102. H. Noah (IND) – Sherco +24:45:40
CHALLENGER – Top 3 plus selected
1. D. Zille (ARG) / S. Cesana (ARG) – Taurus 03:32:50
2. P. Spierings (NED) / J. Van Der Stelt (NED) – Taurus +00:42
3. N. Cavigliasso (ARG) / V. Pertegarini (ARG) – Taurus +02:03
7. K. Benavides (ARG) / L. Sisterna (ARG) – Taurus +09:08
9. D. Akeel (KSA) / S. Delaunay (FRA) – Taurus +09:56
SSV – Top 3 plus selected
1. X. De Soultrait (FRA) / M. Bonnet (FRA) – Polaris 03:38:45
2. A. Pinto (POR) / B. Oliveira (POR) – Polaris +03:34
3. B. Heger (USA) / M.Eddy (USA) – Polaris +03:48
4. F. López (CHI) / A. León (CHI) – Can-Am +04:02
5. G. Guerreiro (POR) / M. Justo (BRA) – Polaris +04:33
13. J. Krisstoffersson (SWE) / O. Floene (NOR) – Polaris +19:16
QUOTES
Guillaume de Mévius: « Winning a stage always feels good, but it wasn’t really our strategy for the day. Still, it’s a positive sign because we didn’t feel we had the outright pace to take the stage. Tomorrow, Mathieu and I will be opening, and I’m very happy about that. With Mathieu on my right, I’m not worried about opening a special. »
Nasser Al-Attiyah: « We were pushing, but then we saw Seb with two flat tyres so tried to take it easy. Then Guillaume passed us and we stayed behind him all the way. Tomorrow I will start three minutes behind Guillaume and we can push. »
Mattias Ekström: « You never know how things will turn out, but today we’ve reached the finish of the stage and I’m very happy with the day. Emil and me were cooperating very well in the car and the navigation was good. I know this sport, there’s 25 really fast drivers and 14 days of racing so you have to take care of your own business while keeping an eye on everybody else. »
Carlos Sainz: « It was a good stage for us with no problems. I think some guys behind will go faster, but that’s OK. We avoided punctures during the stage. »
Nani Roma: « At the pitstop we were in P3 and maybe it was better to slow down a little bit, but I can’t drive like that. I need to drive natural. Now we will make our strategy for tomorrow. »
Mitch Guthrie Jr.: « Right off the bat we had a good pace. I earned us a flat pretty early, but we got that changed quickly and didn’t lose any road position. After that we pushed hard to try and gain that time back. In the end we should be in the Top 10 so we can be happy with that. »
Sébastien Loeb: « We had some punctures at the start of the stage so we had to be careful. After the pitstop I tried to push again. We didn’t want to be at the front for tomorrow’s stage and we’re not, so that’s good. »
Lucas Moraes: « The main goal was to do a clean run. We knew we’d lose some time to the guys coming from the back. Tomorrow will be an even longer and harder stage. Our Dakar has started quite nicely. »
Cristina Gutiérrez: « We had a puncture at the very beginning. After that I tried to find the right rhythm. We stayed close to the front and I’m happy with our result. »
Toby Price: « We felt really good until the service point. Then we got a flat tyre and ended up losing a couple of spots. Other than that the car’s in good shape and we’re ready for tomorrow. There’s still a long way to go. »
Henk Lategan: « We got a puncture right at the beginning and that kind of set the tone for the day. Before we’d done 80 kilometres we got another puncture. After that we really had to back off and go slowly across the rocks. We had to give a bit away today to make sure we stayed in the race. »
Seth Quintero: « We had a great starting position. We got one puncture right at the beginning, about 20 kilometres in. It’s like driving on razor blades out there! We’re only a couple of minutes down so I’m happy with the day. »
Laia Sanz: « Our goal today was to have no punctures, but we got one. Sometimes it’s a question of luck. I’m happy with the start we’ve made and the nerves are out now. The car has improved a lot since we raced in Morocco. »
Rokas Baciuška: « There’s a lot of dust out there because the Stock category starts each day at the back. I’m used to driving in the dust from my days driving SSV so that might help me out this year. Tomorrow will be another tough day so we’ll see how we deal with it. »
Edgar Canet: « It was a really fast stage with a lot of different types of terrain. I did a good job with the navigation, I just got lost for a little bit. You need to take care in the rocks not to destroy yourself or destroy your bike. »
Daniel Sanders: « There were a couple of tricky notes in the roadbook and I lost some time there. It was really windy and my helmet was catching a lot of wind so it was hard to focus. The terrain was fast so it wasn’t easy to make up time, but it was good to get through it. »
Luciano Benavides: « It was a fast stage with some parts of quite tricky navigation. I was cautious in the very rocky areas. I didn’t want to risk too much on the first day. »
Mohammed Balooshi: « I broke my hand early in the stage. I rode until the refuelling with a dislocation. At the refuelling a doctor tried to fix my finger and knuckle. I rode this 300km stage unable to grip since kilometre 20. I just tried to survive. This is Dakar! »
Dania Akeel: « I’m not sure what happened with the door because we didn’t hit anything. Maybe there was something loose. We had one puncture so we lost some time changing the tyre. It was also very dusty with so many Ultimate cars around us. But that’s part of the game. Thanks to my co-driver Sébastien for a great stage. »
Kevin Benavides: « This was my first proper Dakar stage on four wheels and honestly it was a really tough one. With so many stones and dust I think it was a nice welcome to my new category. My target was to keep things clean and that’s what I managed to do. »
Francisco « Chaleco’ López: « My car didn’t have too much power on this first stage. We need to keep working hard to reach the finish of this rally. It was very tough on the rocks today so I’m happy with the time we posted. »
Gonçalo Guerreiro: « Unfortunately we had the same problems as we had yesterday, but anyway we had a clean run. We got just one flat tyre in rocks so that’s not too bad. »
Christine Fial,