2026 Dakar Stage 1 Results – Start the Clock [w/video]

The 2026 Dakar Rally officially started yesterday with a prologue section (read more here). But 2026 Dakar Stage 1 was the first day of proper racing at the 48th edition of the famous rally raid. Read our ‘Dakar 101‘ article here if you are still learning about the race.

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2026 Dakar Stage 1 was raced over a 305 km timed section in a loop around Yanbu. The latter has served as the pre-race camp for over a week leading up to the start of the race. This special stage had two distinct aspects. It began with rocky terrain followed by a fast sandy section towards the end.

Something New

The early section of the stage was so rocky that race organisers arranged a ‘transfer zone’ about half way into the stage. This allowed drivers to call upon service crews for mechanical work, including tyre changes, such was the ever-present danger of running out of spare tyres. This ‘pit-stop was a mandatory four-minutes long, even if your steed didn’t need work.

Setting the Pace

Henk Lategan was classified 47th on the 2026 Dakar prologue. As a result he opened the road today and was setting competitive times, despite having no tracks to follow. The times yo-yo’d as dust played a major factor. All the leading crews took turns to set quick times across the different checkpoint. No sooner had on crew taken the virtual lead did another grab it by a few seconds. Ford, Toyota and Dacia all jostled for quickest sector times.

Fast Fords

The Ford team came out of the blocks at full pace on 2026 Dakar stage 1. Prologue winner Mattias Ekstrom set off directly ahead of his teammate Carlos Sainz. The Fords were lying 1-2-3 about two thirds into the stage. with Prokop slotting in between Ekstrom and Sainz.

Big hitters such as Sebastien Loeb and his teammate Nasser Al-Attiyah (Dacia), as well as defending champ Yazeed Al Rajhi (Toyota) seemed to lose time to the leaders at different points in the stage. As a result it was Saood Variawa (TGR SA) who was piloting the quickest Toyota through the midway point. He was soon joined by teammate Guy Botterill who upped his pace later in the day.

A Complete Mix Up

The standings were looking pretty set until a few fast chargers decided that they also wanted in on the podium positions. Al-Attiyah turned up the pace later on, as did the likes of Marek Goczal (EnergyLandia Toyota). The Polish driver racing through the 260-km marker with the third quickest time.

But it was a late charge by Guilliame de Mevius (X-Raid Mini) who swooped in to grab 2026 Dakar stage 1 victory. The Belgian set the quickest time ahead of Al-Attiyah who also maintained his late charge to finished the time section just 40 seconds slower. Privateer Prokop held onto third. Today’s podium featured three different brands: Mini, Dacia and Ford.

Ekstrom dropped down the order to fourth, ahead of his teammate Sainz. Botterill was the quickest South African home. Lategan was classified 17th with defending champ Yazeed Al Rajhi losing 28 min to the leaders. Because the prologue times did not count for overall standings, the finishing order is the overall classification.

Said De Mevius: “Winning a stage always feels good, but it wasn’t really our strategy for the day. Still, it’s a positive sign because we didn’t feel we had the outright pace to take the stage. Tomorrow, Mathieu and I will be opening, and I’m very happy about that. Our approach is different from the others.

“We’re a bit on our own in this Dakar. We’ll ride our way and, if we win stages, all the better, and we’ll manage to have the best possible day the next stage. With Mathieu on my right, I’m not worried about opening a special. But of course, there is strategy involved, and we’ll need to stay mindful for what comes next.”