The dust is flying at the 2026 Dakar Rally as the race action started with today’s Prologue Stage.
Yanbu, KSA – January 03, 2026: During 23 kilometres against the clock on the sandy tracks outside of Yanbu we saw plenty of early markers laid down. History was made on two wheels and the mighty Defender Dakar D7X‑R made its debut at the world’s toughest rally. Let’s go deep into the desert…
At just 20 years, nine months and 18 days old, Edgar Canet is the youngest ever winner of a Dakar Rally motorbike stage. The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider covered the Prologue Stage in lightening-fast 11m31s. The Catalan biker has graduated to the elite RallyGP class after winning the Dakar’s Rally2 category on his first attempt in 2025.
“I’m super happy with the rhythm I had today. I was 100 percent following the roadbook. I was braking before each danger point and avoiding risks. I was still able to go fast and it feels like the best way to start the rally.” – Edgar Canet
Canet’s fellow Red Bull KTM Factory Racing riders Daniel Sanders and Luciano Benavides both pushed him hard on the dusty piste on outskirts of Yanbu. Reigning RallyGP Dakar winner Sanders finished second – just three seconds behind Canet – while Benavides finished fourth on the Prologue.
“It was pretty much full gas the whole way. Now the prologue is done and we’ll get into a long stage tomorrow.” – Daniel Sanders
Plenty of the pre-race buzz in the Start Camp Bivouac in Yanbu has revolved around the return of Stéphane ‘Monsieur Dakar’ Peterhansel. The fact that Peterhansel has brought with him the fearsome Defender Dakar D7X‑R just added to the sense of excitement. 14-time Dakar winner Peterhansel had to settle for a runners-up result in the Stock class on the Prologue Stage, with a gap of just seconds separating himself and Defender team-mate Sara Price.
“It’s great to be back inside the atmosphere of the Dakar Rally, to be back with this family. Today we finally entered our Defender into the race with this small Prologue.” – Stéphane Peterhansel
It was an impressive debut stage for the Defender Dakar D7X‑R as the vehicle locked out the Prologue Stage podium places. Crossing the line just a second behind Peterhansel was the third Defender car driven by Rokas Baciuška.
Moving into the Ultimate class car race and we witnessed Mattias Ekström’s extraordinary hit rate of Prologue success continue in Yanbu. After winning the Dakar’s opening day battle in both 2023 and 2024, the Swede has now claimed his third Prologue victory. It’s Ekström’s sixth Dakar stage victory in total, more than any other Swedish driver at the rally.
“The Prologue was much more difficult than I’d expected, in terms of navigation and stones. It was like a small Dakar stage. We had a clean run and if anybody managed to go quicker than us I can only say well done. We were at our maximum.” – Mattias Ekström
Ekström was not the only member of the Ford Raptor T1+ fleet that roared on the Prologue. Mitch Guthrie Jr. went second fastest while Carlos Sainz and Nani Roma were also within 18 seconds of Ekström’s time. It’s a solid start by Ford M-Sport as they look to improve on a third place finish 12 months ago.
“We had no issues or problems so I’m happy with our Prologue. Tomorrow is an important day and then we will see how everything works.” – Carlos Sainz
A result that was greeted with a huge cheer back in the Start Camp Bivouac was the third place on the Ultimate class Prologue achieved by Guillaume De Mévius and his co-driver Mathieu Baumel. Four-time winner Baumel is racing his first Dakar as an amputee and this opening result proves this pair can still compete with the very best in their MINI JCW Rally 3.0i.
Leading the charge for the Dacia Sandriders was five-time Dakar Rally winner Nasser Al-Attiyah. The Qatari is out to deliver Dacia their first-ever Dakar victory and demonstrated on this Prologue that he has the speed to get the job done.
“I’m really happy to get things started with a good pace. We tried to push from the very beginning until the end because we want to see what speed we have. Happy New Year to everyone!” – Nasser Al-Attiyah
The three other Dacia Sandriders drivers – Cristina Gutiérrez, Sébastien Loeb and Lucas Moraes – all finished within 30 seconds of Al-Attiyah. It’s clear that this group of drivers have the talent to keep Dacia right in the mix as the distances start to increase over the next two weeks in Saudi Arabia.
“You can lose more than you can win on the Prologue. Little by little we will increase our pace at this rally.” – Cristina Gutiérrez
It was a rapid start to the new Dakar by Seth Quintero of Toyota Gazoo Racing. The 23-year-old America scored the fifth fastest time on the Prologue, finishing just 14 seconds back from Ekström. With Canet becoming the youngest-ever winner of a Bike stage today, could we see the youngest-ever winner of the Ultimate class this year?
“It’s nice to get back into the groove. It didn’t feel like we could reach our top speed, but other than that it was a really good stage. Now we’ve got 13 stages ahead of us so this rally is just getting started.” – Seth Quintero
Another Toyota Hilux putting down an early display of intent was two-time Bike race winner Toby Price. The Australian was just 31 seconds back from Ekström. The news was not so good for the third Toyota Gazoo Racing driver Henk Lategan as he suffered a puncture which cost him over a minute and possible more pain to come.
“It was a bit of a disaster for us. In one of the sandy bits we were in a rut and then hit a rock. We ended up getting a puncture. We thought that maybe we’d got away with it, but in the end we didn’t. Maybe we’ll end up opening the road tomorrow so that’ll be a tough start.” – Henk Lategan
Laia Sanz debuted her EBRO s800-XRR T1+ on today’s stage and drove it to within 46 seconds of Ekström’s winning time. It’s a positive start for the former biker who has a previous Top 10 finish on her Dakar CV.
It amazing how much the Dakar managed to pack into 23 kilometre Prologue Stage. Tomorrow’s stage will have the convoy racing for over 300km against the clock. Four wheeled competitors will get the option of making a pitstop due to the large number of jagged rocks that litter the stage.
RESULTS (PROLOGUE)
BIKE RallyGP – Top 3 plus selected
1. Edgar Canet (ESP) – KTM 11:31
2. Daniel Sanders (AUS) – KTM +00:03
3. Ricky Brabec (USA) – Honda +00:05
4. Luciano Benavides (ARG) – KTM +00:11
37. Harith Noah (IND) – Sherco +01:51
45. Mohammed Balooshi (UAE) – Honda +02:28
STOCK – Top 3
1. S. Price (USA) S. Berriman (USA) / – Defender 12:03
2. S. Peterhansel (FRA) / M. Metge (FRA) – Defender +00:04
3. R. Baciuška (LTU) / O. Vidal (ESP) – Defender +00:05
ULTIMATE – Top 3 plus selected
1. M. Ekström (SWE) / E. Bergvist (SWE) – Ford 10:48
2. M. Guthrie Jr. (USA) / K. Walch (USA) – Ford +00:08
3. G. De Mévius (BEL) / M. Baumel (FRA) – MINI +00:08
4. N. Al-Attiyah (QAT) / F. Lurquin (BEL) – Dacia +00:08
5. S. Quintero (USA) / A. Short (USA) – Toyota +00:14
8. C. Sainz (ESP) / L. Cruz (ESP) – Ford +00:15
11. N. Roma (ESP) / A. Haro (ESP) – Ford +00:18
14. C. Gutiérrez (ESP) / P. Moreno (ESP) – Dacia +00:26
16. T. Price (USA) / A. Monleón (ESP) – Toyota +00:31
17. S. Loeb (FRA) / É. Boulanger (FRA) – Dacia +00:34
18. L. Moraes (BRA) / D. Zenz (GER) – Dacia +00:34
24. L. Sanz (ESP) / M. Gerini (ITA) – Ebro +00:46
44. H. Lategan (ZAF) / B. Cummings (ZAF) – Toyota +01:38
CHALLENGER – Top 3 plus selected
1. P. Spierings (NED) / J. Van Der Stelt (NED) – Taurus 12:31
2. P. Klaassen (NED) / A. Sanz (ARG) – KTM +00:06
3. D. Akeel (KSA) / S. Delaunay (FRA) – Taurus +00:13
7. K. Benavides (ARG) / L. Sisterna (ARG) – Taurus +00:22
SSV – Top 3 plus selected
1. B. Heger (USA) / M.Eddy (USA) – Polaris 12:47
2. G. Guerreiro (POR) / M. Justo (BRA) – Polaris +00:04
3. K. Chaney (USA) / J. Argubright (USA) – Can-Am +00:06
6. F. López (CHI) / A. León (CHI) – Can-Am +00:21
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