2026 Dakar Rally: Mattias Ekström Wins Prologue for Ford

Taking place from 3 to 17 January 2026, this year’s Dakar Rally has officially kicked off. We recap the prologue.

Image: Florent Gooden/DPPI/Red Bull Content Pool

The 48th running of the Dakar Rally saw 317 vehicles cleared by scrutineering for the event’s prologue – a 95 km loop, comprising 22 km of liaison and 73 km of timed special, of Yanbu, located on the Red Sea coastline. Ford M-Sport driver Mattias Ekström finished first, leading teammate Mitch Guthrie, who placed second, by eight seconds in the prologue.

“I had a very good prologue. It was much more difficult than I expected from navigation and stones and, for me, this was a small stage. Emil [Bergkvist; navigator] did a very good job and we had a clean stage. So, if someone goes quicker now, I can only say ‘well done’, because we cannot go quicker than this. That was [the] maximum for us,” said Ekström.

The Swede continued, “I like the car a lot. I think M-Sport and Ford have made a good evolution last year. For the first shot, I think the car was good, but now I feel, for my liking of driving, this is a very good car. It is very agile and the suspension is also great, so I don’t have any excuses of the car or the team. So, it’s more up to me and Emil to drive as quick as we can, and that’s what we try and do.”

Rounding out the 2026 Dakar Rally prologue podium were X-raid Mini JCW driver Guillaume de Mévius and his navigator, Mathieu Baumel. Five-time Dakar Rally champion Nasser Al-Attiyah and his navigator, Fabian Lurquin, finished fourth for the Dacia Sandriders.

Toyota Gazoo Racing W2RC driver Seth Quintero placed fifth; fourteen seconds ahead of the defending Dakar Rally champion, Overdrive Racing’s Yazeed Al-Rajhi, who finished sixth. Placing seventh and eighth were Energylandia Rally Team’s Eryk Goczał and Ford Racing’s Carlos Sainz, respectively. Century Racing Factory Team’s Mathieu Serradori placed ninth, with South African Saood Variawa bringing home his Toyota Gazoo Racing W2RC Hilux in tenth.

The first stage of the 2026 Dakar Rally, where the competitors will complete a 518 km loop around Yanbu, with 213 km of liaison and a timed special of 305 km, kicks off on 4 January 2026.

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