We recap Stage 7 of the 2026 Dakar Rally, which took place on 11 January.
Five-time Dakar Champion Nasser-Al Attiyah maintained his overall lead on Stage 7 of the 2026 Dakar. Image: Red Bull Content Pool.
Henk Lategan (Toyota Gazoo Racing W2RC) provisionally took back the overall lead of the 2026 Dakar Rally on Stage 7, a 877 km trek from the Saudi capital Riyadh to Wadi ad Dawasir, before losing time right at the very end of the day. Ford Racing’s Mattias Ekström controlled the event for the first two checkpoints, but by 107 km, Lategan registered the fastest times, with the South African eventually overtaking Al-Attiyah for the overall lead by the 375 km checkpoint.
Nani Roma (Ford Racing) was right behind teammate Ekström at 178 km in, but fell back, while Carlos Sainz and Mitch Guthrie also ran in the top 10 intermittently. Al-Attiyah’s Brazilian teammate, Lucas Moraes, was the highest-running Dacia all day, eventually finishing 5th quickest behind Toby Price.
Ekström would go on to win, eventually; ahead of Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa’s Joao Ferreira, while Ford Racing’s Mitch Guthrie completed the podium. Toby Price (Toyota Gazoo Racing W2RC) was 4th, while Dacia Sandriders teammates Lucas Moraes and Sébastien Loeb were 5th and 6th, respectively. Seth Quintero (Toyota Gazoo Racing W2RC), Mathieu Serradori (Century Racing), Carlos Sainz, and Nani Roma completed the ten fastest drivers of the day.
Mattias Ekström was quickest on Stage 7 with his Ford Raptor. Image: Red Bull Content Pool.
Overall, Al-Attiyah still leads by just under five minutes ahead of Ekström, and Roma completes the provisional top three. Lategan trails the leader by seven minutes and 21 seconds, and Carlos Sainz is 10 minutes and 26 seconds behind Al-Attiyah. Between the Qatari and Eryck Goczał (Energylandia Rally Team), who is currently 10th overall, there’s just a 26 minute difference, so the race is still wide open.
Stage 8 of the Dakar Rally will be a loop around Wadi ad Dawasir, with 481 km of special stage and 236 km of liaison.
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