2026 Dakar Stage 5 Results – Flying Fords [w/video]

The 2026 Dakar Rally is deep into the first week of action. 2026 Dakar Stage 4 brought with it a new stage winner and overall race leader in the shape of Henk Latengan (as you can read here). Read our Dakar 101 article here if you are still learning about the race. 2026 Dakar Stage 5 was a continuation of the marathon that started at the beginning of the previous day. That means teams raced into the desert and spent the night under the stars. There was no outside assistance for the crews overnight, except from their own teammates. The stage started in the desert, at the overnight camp and ended in 371 km later in Hail.

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Big News

The biggest news coming out of the last stage was the retirement of Yazeed Al Rajhi. The defending champion suffered multiple punctures and his Hilux was left stranded without external assistance. The Saudi driver was also nursing his back from a severe injury suffered at an event last year. As a result he felt that it would be too much of a risk if he tried to continue at maximum attack.

Henk Lategan (Toyota Gazoo Racing W2RC), by his own admission, played ‘Russian Roulette’ yesterday, throwing caution to the wind with not much to lose. The South African passed 11 cars on the road and took stage honours. In addition he rose to the top of the timesheets to lead the overall standings going into 2026 Dakar Stage 5. However, that would prove a bit of a problem for today’s stage. As we have seen on every stage thus far, ‘opening the road’ or leading the field means crews have no markers/paths to follow as they are faced with the wide open spaces of the desert. Lategan’s win yesterday meant he was first on the trail today.

Click here to read about Mathieu Baumel’s heroic return to competition at this year’s Dakar Rally.

Flying Fords,

The Ford squadron took full advantage of their lower-down starting positions. The Raptors traded times throughout the day with just about each of the crews taking a turn to lead the stage times at different points. Guy Botterill (Toyota Gazoo Racing SA), once again had a strong showing, as he made a charge through the field, trying as he did to challenge for a podium position. His efforts were unrewarded as he fell down the order in the very final sector of the stage.

A Late Penalty

The Raptors were tough to beat today as they turned up the pace. Mitch Guthrie was staring down a second stage win this year, but Nani Roma was keen to add to his overall tally and add his name to the 2026 winner’s list. The two battled all the way to the finish with Roma pipping his teammate by just four seconds on the road. However, a post-stage penalty of 1 min 10 sec dropped the Frenchman to second with Guthrie awarded the victory. Martin Prokop claimed the final podium position to make it a 1-2-3 for Ford.

Lucas Moraes was the sole non-Ford in the top six as he claimed fourth ahead of Mattias Ekstrom and Carlos Sainz. Joao Ferreira had a solid day and was the highest placed of the Toyota’s on today’s stage in 7th. Seb Loeb (Dacia) finished 11th. Al-Attiyah was 15th, just ahead of Lategan. Lategan still retains the lead of the race, having lost just seconds to Al-Attiyah. Elstrom made up over eight minutes on his rivals today. His teammate Roma now finds himself in fourth overall with Carlos Sainz in fifth. With Guthrie in sixth there are four Fords in the top six.