Spanish factory Ford Raptor drivers Nani Roma ended the day leading Carlos Sainz by one minute, with Nasser Al Attiyah’s Sandrider only seconds adrift and Henk Lategan still in touch in fourth despite a troubled day at the office.
Tuesday’s ninth day of Dakar action turned the 2026 race on its head. Behind the leaders, the Polish Goczal brothers Eryk and Michal led Aussie bike refugee Toby Price to a remarkable Toyota Hilux 1-2-3 ahead of South African Century Factory driver Brian Baragwanath on a day when all the overall contenders struck trouble.
The stage began normally, with Sébastien Loeb and Édouard Boulanger’s Dacia leading teammates Lucas Moraes and Dennis Zenz, and Mitch Guthrie and Kellon Walch’s factory Ford Raptor. Overall leaders Nasser Al Attiyah and Fabian Lurquin’s Dacia Sandrider ran ahead of Mattias Ekström and Emil Bergkvist’s Ford Raptor, while Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings’ Overdrive Toyota Hilux kept a watching brief through the opening 150 kilometres of the 410 km run to the second no-service Marathon bivouac.
Things soon unravelled. Loeb and Boulanger stopped twice with technical issues, while Guthrie and Walch struck oil leak trouble. Lategan and Cummings lost fourteen minutes replacing broken power steering, and both Al Attiyah and Ekström became lost.
That left Moraes and Zenz leading Guy Botterill and Oriol Mena’s SVR Hilux, with Martin Prokop and Viktor Chytka’s Ford Raptor next as Michal Goczal climbed to fifth. The virtual overall standings shifted dramatically. Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz led for Ford from teammates Roma and Álex Haro, with Al Attiyah down to third ahead of Lategan, Loeb and Ekström.
Brothers in Arms
On the road, Eryk Goczal suddenly led brother Michal ahead of Baragwanath’s Century and Price’s Overdrive Hilux. Price passed Baragwanath for fourth as the Goczal brothers sealed another shock result with an historic family 1-2. They were followed by Price, Baragwanath, Guillaume de Mevius and Mathieu Baumel’s Mini, Cristina Gutiérrez and Pablo Moreno’s Dacia, and the new overall leaders Sainz and Roma.
Lategan finished 16th, Al Attiyah 17th, Monday’s winners Saood Variawa and François Cazalet 18th, Loeb 22nd and Ekström 28th. Botterill slipped to 15th, while Mathieu Serradori and Loïc Minaudier’s Century Factory CR-7 endured a difficult day in 36th.
Overall, Sainz and Cruz initially led the standings but a one-minute penalty dropped them to 57 seconds behind Ford Raptor teammates Roma and Haro. Thirteen seconds further back, Al Attiyah and Lurquin sit third ahead of Lategan and Cummings, Ekström and Bergkvist, Loeb, Price and Moraes. Serradori holds ninth, Variawa 11th, Baragwanath 14th and Botterill 15th.
Elsewhere, Paul Spierings’ Taurus beat former bike winner Kevin Benavides to take the T3 Challenger stage, where Pau Navarro controls a 40-minute overall lead. Chaleco López held World Rallycross Champion Johan Kristoffersson at bay in T4 Side by Sides, where Brock Heger remains firmly in overall control. Rokas Baciuška won in Stock to extend his advantage over Defender teammate Sara Price, while Aleš Loprais claimed the Trucks victory aboard his Iveco as Mitchel van der Brink’s MMT maintains a 35-minute lead over Vítor Zala’s Iveco.
It remains tight at the front of the Cars category, and Dakar 2026 is far from settled, with more than two full South African National Rally Raid events still to run. Action resumes Wednesday with a dune-heavy 371 km stage to Bisha.
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Bikes: Sanders comeback to retake lead as Schareina wins
Dakar’s ninth Bike day delivered drama and intrigue as the leading riders had to fight for their lunch on Tuesday.
On another cruel day for early leaders Édgar Canet and Ross Branch, Daniel Sanders charged back from 34th earlier in the stage to finish second behind Spanish Honda rider Tosha Schareina and reclaim the overall lead for KTM.
South African Michael Docherty dominated Rally 2 as he chased the outright stage win before finishing third on his BAS KTM 450 at the second-week Marathon bivouac. Compatriot Bradey Cox ended eighth for Sherco, while Botswana Hero Moto rider Ross Branch struggled home once again after a promising early showing.
The stage began with Spanish Rally GP rookie Canet leading Docherty, Schareina and Branch, while overnight leaders and 2025 Dakar winner 450 Rally Factory KTM riders Luciano Benavides and World Champion Sanders languished in 52nd and 34th respectively. Honda riders Adrien van Beveren and Ricky Brabec also struggled early, running 34th and 11th.
The Man on the Move
An entertaining battle for second followed between Docherty and Neels Theric’s Kove behind runaway leader Canet, before Branch moved up to second. Canet then lost half an hour, while Branch slowed considerably, allowing Schareina to take control ahead of Docherty, a recovering Brabec, Utah Honda teammate Skyler Howes, Theric and Branch.
Sanders was the man on the move toward the finish, passing all but Schareina to secure second place, with Docherty third ahead of Brabec, Howes, van Beveren, Theric, Cox and Benavides. The result reshuffled the overall standings, with Sanders returning to a 6-minute lead over Brabec. Benavides sits third, followed by Schareina, Howes and Chilean Hero rider Ignacio Cornejo.
Van Beveren holds seventh overall ahead of Branch and Rally 2 leader Preston Campbell, with Cox running 11th. Wednesday features a dune-heavy 371 km stage to Bisha to conclude the second Marathon leg, with three more stages remaining before the finish in Yanbu on Saturday.
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