Dakar 2026: Al Attiyah leads after wild first week as Sanders regains bike control

Five-time Dakar winner Al Attiyah, partnered by Fabian Lurquin, capitalised on constantly shifting road order and stage dynamics to take the overall lead on Friday. South Africans Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings sit second in their Toyota Gazoo Hilux, with Ford Factory Raptor driver Nani Roma and Álex Haro third, giving three different manufacturers the top three positions at the halfway point.

The opening phase of Dakar 2026 was defined by violent swings in advantage, with stage winners repeatedly punished by the task of opening the road the following day. Ford initially set the tone when Mattias Ekström and Emil Bergkvist, alongside Mitch Guthrie and Kellon Walch, claimed the prologue and early starting priority.

Sunday’s first stage produced an early surprise as Guillaume de Mevius and Mathieu Baumel stormed to victory in their Mini, reappearing in the results after a transponder issue. Toyota, Ford, and Mini then traded blows across the next two days, with Toyota Gazoo Hilux asserting itself on Monday through an Overdrive 1-2-3 led by Seth Quintero and Andrew Short.

Tuesday flipped the order again as Ford dominated, Guthrie charging from fourteenth to the stage win while overnight leader Al Attiyah slipped back. The day also delivered a historic moment as Puck Klaassen became the fifth woman to win a Dakar stage, taking victory in T3 alongside Augusto Sanz.

Wednesday belonged to Toyota as Lategan and Cummings delivered a decisive drive to jump from eleventh overall to the lead, with seven Toyotas filling the top ten. But that advantage proved temporary, as Thursday swung back toward Ford before penalties reshaped the order.

Friday finally allowed Al Attiyah to assert control. He led a Dacia charge alongside Sébastien Loeb and Édouard Boulanger, reclaiming the overall lead despite Lategan limiting losses to retain second. Roma emerged as the leading Ford in sixth on the stage, enough to hold third overall ahead of teammates Carlos Sainz and Ekström.

At the midpoint, Al Attiyah leads Lategan by 6 minutes, with Roma third. Sainz and Ekström follow, ahead of Loeb, Guthrie, and Mathieu Serradori’s Century CR7, underlining the multi manufacturer fight still very much alive.

Friday also tightened the support category fights. Ignacio Casale won in T3 Challenger, while Pau Navarro continues to lead overall ahead of Nikolas Cavigliasso and a recovering Klaassen. Xavier de Soultrait closed the gap in T4 with a class win over Brock Heger, while Sara Price beat Stéphane Peterhansel and Rokas Baciuska in Stock, where the Defender trio now occupy the top three overall. In Trucks, Ales Loprais won the day, but Mitchell van der Brink retains the overall lead.

The Cars field now faces the longest special of Dakar 2026 so far, a 462 kilometre run to Wadi Ad Dawasir on Sunday, a stage expected to punish both navigation and endurance.

In the Bikes category, KTM continued its control of Dakar 2026 as Luciano Benavides claimed his fifth KTM stage win of the rally on Thursday, while Daniel Sanders moved back into the overall lead.

The sixth stage unfolded during the second half of the first Marathon leg and produced a dramatic reshuffle. Rookie Edgar Canet initially controlled proceedings, with Bradley Cox delivering his strongest performance so far in fourth on his Factory Sherco. Behind them, Ross Branch endured a difficult day battling wheel issues on his Hero.

The decisive moment came when Canet ground to a halt with mechanical problems, allowing Benavides to seize control. He went on to win the stage ahead of Ignacio Cornejo, Cox, Tosha Schareina, and Ricky Brabec, while Rally 2 leader Neels Theric secured his second consecutive class victory.

Sanders’ consistency was enough to return him to the overall lead, where he now holds a 2-minute advantage over Honda riders Schareina and Brabec. Cornejo sits fourth, followed by Skyler Howes and Adrien van Beveren. Cox has climbed to eighth overall, while Branch has slipped to tenth after his troubled stage.

Friday’s 340-kilometre run to Riyadh precedes Saturday’s rest day, setting the stage for a decisive second half as both the Cars and Bikes battles remain wide open heading into Dakar’s most punishing terrain. Report by Motorsport Media.