The "orange" team had dominated the field until now, with three special stages shared by Edgar Canet and Daniel Sanders. But the confrontation has now taken a different turn with the first blow struck by the Monster Energy Honda HRC team, and specifically Tosha Schareina, who won today's stage in AlUla, where he set his first stage win of 2024. The Spaniard, who finished second to Sanders last year and throughout the entire W2RC season, is well-positioned for the crucial marathon-refuge stage that awaits the favorites tomorrow. He has moved into the provisional podium, 1 minute and 13 seconds behind his expected rival, Daniel Sanders.

The Australian was forced to open the road for a good portion of the 421 km timed section. He was only joined on the road by Ricky Brabec, who is proving to be another strong contender in this early stage of the Dakar Rally. He takes second place in the overall standings, 1'07" behind Sanders, confirming the strength of the Honda camp.

At KTM, Edgar Canet has been slightly off his best compared to the first three days, dropping one place in the standings to fourth, 8'46" behind.

The situation in the Rally 2 category has changed dramatically since Yanbu's departure. After Neels Theric's electrical problems cost him 2 hours and 50 minutes in the prologue, and Harith Noah's crash and retirement, Tobias Ebster has now lost his chances of winning the title for which he was one of the favorites (9th overall and 2nd in R2 in 2025). Injured in the hand, the Austrian driver is expected to withdraw: although the regulations allow him to resume the race, he will no longer be able to arbitrate the battle that is shaping up between Mike Docherty, today's winner, and Martim Ventura, who is 3'32" behind him.