2026 Dakar Stage 10 Results – Big Winners and Losers

The 2026 Dakar Rally is heading for a thrilling conclusion with just a few days left to race. 2026 Dakar Stage 10 was contested over 420 km. The stage started at the overnight stop in the desert and ended near Bisha. Read our Dakar 101 article here if you are still learning about the race. It was the second part of the marathon that started at the beginning of stage nine. Racers returned to the roots of the race as they spent the night in an overnight camp in the middle of the desert. There was plenty of drama leading up to the overnight stop (as you can read at this link).

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Family Affair

The leaders all seemed to have some form of trouble yesterday, except for one man. Nani Roma rose to take the overall lead of the rally heading into stage 10. While Roma must’ve slept easy, there must have been major excitement for the Goczal family as Eryk and uncle Michal took a 1-2 on stage nine, a feat that has not been accomplished before. However, their win yesterday meant that they were the first to start today

Click here to read why the Dakar Rally is such an alluring racing event.

The privately entered Energy Landia Toyota Hiluxes set off as they finished, with Toby Price (Toyota Gazoo Racing W2RC) following closely behind. With no tracks to follow the trio were setting a slow pace and soon riding line astern on the stage, trying to figure out the route. As has come to be expected, the cars starting lower down set quicker times and the stage victor would, invariably, be someone who started quite late.

Early Leader

Dacia driver Nasser Al-Attiyah set the early pace. He made good use of his later starting time. Such was his pace that the Qatari soon joined those, who had started much earlier than he did, on the road. Mattias Ekstrom slipped off the provisional overall podium overnight was on a charge this morning. But his challenge was halted with a mechanical issue that dropped him far down the order.

Click here to read about the herioc comeback of De Mevius’ navigator, Mathieu Baumel.

Another driver who took full advantage of his late start position (31st) was Mathieu Serradori. The Frenchman quickly drove his SA-built Century Racing buggy to the top of the timesheets. The electrical contractor held the lead all the way through the latter checkpoints, increasing his lead as the day progressed. His countryman, Seb Loeb (Dacia) lost a lot of time on the previous day’s stage with a failed power steering unit. The WRC champ was eager to make up for it as he set competitive sector times that had him knocking on the podium door.

Stage Winner

Serradori dropped the hammer with 100 km to go and no one could match his time, winning by over six minutes. He claimed his second ever stage win and the first for the SA-made Century CR7. Nasser Al-Attiyah was second. He was followed home by his teammates Loeb and Moraes, making it 2-3-4 for the Dacia Sandriders. Guy Botterill was the first of the Toyota squad in fifth. Denis Krotov (Ford), who started quite late, pushed Lategan down to seventh. The biggest losers to day seemed to be Ekstrom who finished over 30 min behind the stage winner and Sainz even further back.

Serradori said: “We hardly left anything on the track today. I was mad this morning and we went a bit too fast in the first 30 kilometres. Loïc told me to calm down or risk disaster, he was right to do so. I needed this one, it makes me really happy. We won the Dakar two-wheel-drive ranking three times and today we proved Century can put together a competitive, reliable car. It’s Christmas come early, it’s awesome.”

The Lead Regained

Roma’s residency at the top of the overall standings lasted just a day as Al-Attiyah reclaims the overall race lead. The five-time winner may not have won but he put massive chunks of time between him and his rivals, seven minutes over Lategan and 14 over Roma, who lie second and third, respectively. The Qatari driver leads by 12 minutes with three stages to go. Loeb leaped up the order and now occupies fourth with Serradori’s efforts also bringing up to fifth. Several the Toyota of Saood Variawa rounding out the leaderboard.

Said the rally leader after the stage: “It was very tough. My head and body have taken a real beating. But we really attacked from start to finish. Fabian did a great job, and we can feel both happy and lucky because it was really hard. The car is fine, but I’m wrecked. It’s not that I am too old, but my body’s been through a lot, especially my neck. I’d like to have a good advantage in the overall, but I don’t know yet.”