Ricky Brabec’s day was impressive, if more calculated. Starting fourth, the American used the tracks ahead to his advantage.His rhythm was briefly interrupted when he stopped to check on Daniel Sanders following his crash in the dunes, but he quickly regrouped to claim second place.A 1’37” time credit for assisting Sanders proved crucial, lifting Brabec to the top of the overall standings. With the leaderboard reshuffled once again, Brabec now leads the rally by just 56 seconds over Benavides after more than 41 hours of racing.

Skyler Howes continued his consistent Dakar with a solid fourth-place finish, also picking up bonus time.The dune-heavy terrain suited both the American and his Honda CRF450 RALLY and he completed the two-day marathon stage without issue, keeping him fifth overall.

A fierce battle is shaping up in the Rally2 category as Preston Campbell held onto his lead following the conclusion of the second marathon stage of the 2026 Dakar Rally. Campbell continued his consistent form and starting the day with a 17-minute cushion, he had to carefully manage both his pace and the punishing terrain.The endless dunes caught him out a few times, forcing him to remount and push on, but he luckily avoided any serious setbacks.Crossing the line 15 minutes behind Rally2 stage winner Michael Docherty, Campbell now holds a slim 3’23” lead in the overall standings.With just three stages remaining, he knows he must stay sharp to hold off a fast-charging Toni Mulec.

Ricky Brabec: The marathon stage was good overall. We got to sleep on the ground, under the stars, it was really cool. Overall, the two days was awesome, we did the best job we could and the outcome is pretty good. If we’re still in a good position for the next three days, we’ll just keep doing the best we can and we’ll keep plugging away. We made it back which is my main goal, my bike is in one piece, so for my mechanics it's super awesome. The times are super tight, I don’t know if I like it still, but it’s a good race I’m sure for the people watching. We’ll keep fighting, there's three days to go, hopefully at the end of this thing we’re in the position we want to be in.

Skyler Howes: Time and time again we’re seeing that the marathon stage is a key factor in this race. Yesterday, I did a much better job of managing, it was really rocky in the beginning and tricky navigation, so I more or less just chilled out and rode really easy, managed the bike, brought it in in a good position and also didn’t make any navigation mistakes. Today, I knew it was going to be really physically demanding. I rode normally, I didn’t go out of my comfort zone. Adrien passed me going full gas, I just let him go. I was riding my own race today and eventually we caught back up. They were opening the stage and it was really difficult to open in the big dunes so I was able to close the gap back up and I would consider this a really good stage, managed it, I rode my own race, had my own plan.

Preston Campbell: It was a long two days. Yesterday, it was quite high speed and had some dunes at the end. I got through the rocks, it was a little tricky navigation early yesterday and I did a pretty good job of getting through it. Today, was all dunes and really soft ones, so just had to push and do my best. I made it here and I think we’re in a good position to keep fighting for the next couple of days. Today, was pushing through the really soft white dunes and they weren’t so big, but really soft, so had to get off a couple of times and flip the bike around and make my way through there. I’m still enjoying it and having a great time out here.