Luciano Benavides came in fourth in last year's Dakar, his finest performance up until then. 365 days later, the Argentinian claimed his first podium finish, rocketing straight to the top spot. This is the third Albiceleste win in the rally, following the victories of his brother Kevin in 2021 and 2023. It is also KTM's 21st triumph. The maker from Mattighofen was defending the title of the Australian Daniel Sanders, who has finished the 2026 edition in fifth place.

Toni Mulec is the winner of the Dakar in the Rally2 class, beating Preston Campbell by 4′37″ and Martim Ventura by 1 h 37′15″. The Slovenian has taken the crown from Edgar Canet (2025) and secured the second triumph for BAS World KTM, which had already prevailed with Mason Klein in 2022. Campbell and Ventura placed the two Honda Monster Energy machines on the podium in the manufacturer's first official appearance in the class. Campbell is also the top-ranked rookie.

Drama in the desert: Earlier Ricky Brabec appeared to have got lost while opening the way at the end of the special. As it stands, the provisional ranking would make the Argentinian Luciano Benavides the winner of the 2026 Dakar by just 2 seconds over the American, pending confirmation of the results (which was confirmed just now).

Earlier in the morning, it was a tough time for many of the leading riders. Here is what happened in the last hour. Edgar Canet, who had started 31 minutes after Ricky Brabec, has won the stage by 6 seconds over his teammate Luciano Benavides!

The young Spaniard gained the upper hand on the home straight of the special. This is his third stage win of the 2026 edition and his third in Yanbu, following the prologue and stage 1.

Last time check | Rally GP

08:31

Ricky Brabec, Luciano Benavides and Tosha Schareina have blasted through km 86, where the American had 22 seconds in hand over the Argentinian and a minute over the Spaniard. The top 3 of the stage (and the overall) will cross the finish line of the 2026 Dakar in a few minutes.

Benavides twists back the throttle | Rally GP

08:24

Luciano Benavides is physically faster than Ricky Brabec, but the American's bonuses are tipping the scales in his favour. However, the gap has narrowed: after factoring in bonuses, Brabec saw his 28-second lead over Benavides at km 43 shrink to 13 seconds at km 65.