We recap the 13th and final stage of the 2026 Dakar Rally, which took place on 17 January.
Nasser Al-Attiyah secured his sixth overall victory at the 2026 Dakar Rally. Image: Red Bull Content Pool
Saturday’s 13th and final stage of the Dakar Rally still had plenty of room for drama, as competitors put it all on the line to secure podium and top 10 finishes. In the end, Nasser Al-Attiyah’s 15-minute lead overnight was enough of a buffer to secure his sixth Dakar crown.
“We’ve worked very hard since last year. I might not be showing much emotion yet, but it’s there, deep down. We are so happy to win. I think we made the difference on the second day of the first marathon stage by building up a twelve-minute lead. Yesterday was also important. That’s when we knew we’d won the race. This is my sixth victory. I still need to break Peterhansel’s record,” Al-Attiyah said – alluding to the 14 overall wins by Frenchman Stephane Peterhansel.
The 105 km finale was always going to be a sprint, and from the outset, there were hard charges by several drivers. South African Brian Baragwanath (Century Racing) was fastest to the first checkpoint at 21 km, followed by the Ford Racing Raptors of Mattias Ekstrom and Carlos Sainz.
Sebastien Loeb (Dacia Sandriders) was 4th quickest to the finish, with Mitch Guthrie (Ford Racing), Lucas Moraes (Dacia Sandriders), Mathieu Serradori (Century Racing), Romain Dumas (Ford Racing), Martin Prokop (Orlen Jipocar Team), and Guillaume De Mevius round off the top 10 by that point.
Nani Roma (Ford Racing) was second overall. Image: Red Bull Content Pool.
By 43 km, Ekstrom had taken charge of the stage, clear of Moraes, Baragwanath, Sainz, Loes, and Henk Lategan (Toyota Gazoo Racing W2RC). At 65 km, Loeb was just 24 seconds behind Ekstrom, who was still in the stage lead, but by 86 km the gap had grown to 29 seconds. Lategan had worked his way to third on the stage by the final checkpoint, 13 seconds behind the stage winner.
Ford Racing’s Nani Roma was second overall at the end, with teammate Ekstrom in third. Sebastien Loeb was the second Dacia Sandrider across the finish line in fourth overall, and Carlos Sainz (Ford Racing) completed the top 5. Serradori was sixth and Moraes seventh. Toby Price Toyota Gazoo Racing W2RC) was the first of three Hiluxes in the top 10, in eighth, leading teammate Seth Quintero and Saood Variawa (Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa) to the end.
Click here to browse thousands of new and used vehicles here with CARmag!
The post Dakar 2026: Al-Attiyah wins 6th title appeared first on CAR Magazine.
Comments
Post a Comment