While it seemed that South African Ross Branch was the provisional winner at the Dakar Rally today, the provisional winner may have run afoul of the speed limit, potentially costing him up to six minutes in penalties.

The Motswana scooped up his sixth Dakar stage win two years after his finest performance to date, when he also seized the overall lead after stage 1. He had also landed the Indian manufacturer Hero its most recent victory (2024).

"I made a couple of mistakes and got a bit lost. The navigation was really important, quite different from what I'd learnt, but it's the same for everyone. I'm glad to see I've still got that speed. I didn't get the results I was hoping for last year, it was frustrating. But I have a great team behind me that helped me move forward and I'm grateful for that."

Canet, 20, woke up today as the youngest stage winner in the history of the Dakar, but the Spaniard is keeping his feet planted firmly on the ground. He knows yesterday's display of raw speed is just one piece of the puzzle. He needs to proceed with caution and manage wafer-thin margins in the overall. His teammate Daniel Sanders is just 3 seconds back, with Ricky Brabec 5 seconds down and less than 20 seconds separating the top 6.

Canet wrapped up the opening 28 km in 16 minutes, laying down the benchmark by 7 seconds over Ross Branch's Hero and 9 over Ricky Brabec's Honda. The prologue winner hit the ground running, also putting his teammate Daniel Sanders in the shade at 12 seconds, with Tosha Schareina (+27″) and Luciano Benavides (+29″) further back on the road.

Sanders set the fastest time at the km 70 mark, climbing from fourth at km 28 to the top of the leaderboard. Ross Branch (+7″) and Edgar Canet (+8″) are right on his tail. Ricky Brabec is not far off (+24″), but further back there is already more than a minute separating the rest of the pack, with Luciano Benavides fifth at 1′09″ and Tosha Schareina sixth at 1′20″.

Branch, had taken the lead of the FIM special at km 108. The Motswana has ousted Daniel Sanders (+18″) and pulled clear of Edgar Canet (+45″) and Ricky Brabec (+1′00″). A gap has opened up behind them, with Luciano Benavides at 2′24″, Tosha Schareina at 2′42″ and Adrien Van Beveren at 3′29″. Number 46 is the Hero of the early morning.

Brabec was the first virtual leader of the 2026 Dakar at km 10 of the prologue. Edgar Canet took over at the end of the opener and held on to the virtual lead at the first time check of stage 1 (km 28). Daniel Sanders then moved into the hot seat at km 70. Now, Ross Branch has soared into the lead at km 108, just 5 seconds clear of Sanders.

Branch is still leading the motorbike stage at km 150, but the Motswana has lost a few seconds to the KTM factory riders: Daniel Sanders (second) has closed the gap from 18 seconds to 14 and Edgar Canet (third) from 45 to 33. The margin to Brabec (fourth) remains steady at one minute.

Challenged by the KTM riders at the previous time check, Branch has reached km 180 (where the cars will make a pit stop) with over a minute in hand over his closest rivals. The gaps are 1′03″ to Daniel Sanders, 1′14″ to Canet, 1′26″ to Ricky Brabec and now 2′35″ to Schareina. The airline pilot is soaring!

The first riders had reached the km 215 fuel stop, with Branch leading by 54 seconds over Sanders and 1′11″ over Edgar Canet. The fight for the stage win is shaping up between the Hero factory rider and the two Red Bull KTM factory riders, with Ricky Brabec lying in wait at 1′36″.

Branch went through the km 260 time check (the last before the finish) with a 1′13″ advantage over Edgar Canet. The Spaniard is now quicker than his teammate Daniel Sanders (+1′25″). Behind them, Ricky Brabec (+2′09″) is firmly in fourth, ahead of his Honda teammate Tosha Schareina (+3′01″).

Top Ten – Dakar

1 R. BRANCH

2 E. CANET

3. D. SANDERS

4. R. BRABEC

5 T. SCHAREINA

6 L. BENAVIDES

7 I. CORNEJO

8 A. VAN BEVEREN

9 M. DOCHERTY

10 S. HOWES