Opportunities are there to be seized — and Luciano Benavides knows it better than most. The Argentinian unleashed his natural flair on a special perfectly suited to his strengths. Starting sixth, he wasted no time in launching a charge, capitalising on the fast, flowing terrain to claw his way back into contention. Benavides stormed through the 459-kilometre stage in just four hours, claiming a commanding victory with 4′47″ in hand over Edgar Canet and 4′57″ over Adrien Van Beveren, who produced his strongest ride since the rally began in Yanbu. The KTM rider remains third overall after this show of force, now just 15 seconds behind Ricky Brabec. It was his seventh Dakar stage win — a tally that speaks volumes.
The overall top three remains unchanged, with Daniel Sanders still leading the way. However, his third-place finish today could prove costly. Starting further up the road tomorrow, the Australian may hand a tactical edge to his closest rival, Ricky Brabec (+4′25″), who will set off in tenth position, 21 minutes later. The Monster Energy Honda HRC rider is renowned for his racecraft and could well turn the situation to his advantage.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing continue to sit at the summit, but the rally is far from settled. Despite losing time today as the second rider on the road, Tosha Schareina limited the damage. The Spaniard collected valuable time bonuses for opening the stage, yet still conceded ground to the leader and now sits just over 15 minutes adrift. With so many kilometres still to come, nothing is decided.
Further down the order, Rally2 contender Michael Docherty once again crashed the RallyGP party. The South African delivered a standout performance to finish fifth overall on the stage to Wadi Ad-Dawasir, while also securing his fifth class victory of the rally. A welcome reward after the opening marathon stage derailed his overall ambitions.
Talent in abundance, metronomic consistency and a touch of fortune — that is the recipe for Dakar success. And once again, Mattias Ekström showed he has all the ingredients. Whether or not he ultimately challenges for the title in the six remaining stages, the Swede underlined his credentials by claiming his seventh Dakar stage win. João Ferreira and Mitch Guthrie trailed him by 4′27″ and 4′55″ respectively. Consistently hovering near the sharp end since Yanbu, Ekström finally saw everything click today, moving up another gear in the provisional standings. He now sits just 4′47″ behind Nasser Al Attiyah.
The five-time Dakar champion remains a master of the long game. It wasn’t outright pace that kept Al Attiyah in control — he finished only eleventh on the stage — but rather a perfect alignment of strategy and circumstance, as the shifting winds around Wadi Ad-Dawasir played into his hands. For much of the day, Henk Lategan looked poised to snatch the overall lead, setting up a thrilling Hilux-versus-Sandrider showdown. Then came the turning point: at kilometre 428, disaster struck for the South African, who was forced to stop for nearly ten minutes. The setback cost him dearly, dropping him out of the provisional podium to fourth, 7′21″ back, and easing the pressure on Al Attiyah.
Ekström wasn’t the only Ford Raptor driver shining. Nani Roma delivered exactly what was expected — and more. The Catalan consolidated his third place overall after Lategan’s misfortune and even trimmed his deficit to Al Attiyah by around a minute, now standing at 7′15″. Crucially, Roma will enjoy a favourable starting position for tomorrow’s longest special of the 2026 Dakar — an opportunity he will be keen to exploit.
Cox Ground to a Halt
After losing Harith Noah in Stage 1 and Lorenzo Santolino in Stage 2, Sherco’s hopes rested squarely on their last rider standing: Bradley Cox. The South African was tasked with carrying the flag to Yanbu — ideally sneaking into the top five to eclipse the manufacturer’s best-ever Dakar result, Santolino’s sixth place in Jeddah back in 2021.
Cox began the day eighth overall, tantalisingly close to fifth, less than an hour adrift. But with 91 kilometres still to run, disaster struck. A failed water pump brought Alfie Cox’s son to a standstill, brutally halting his charge. Nearly two hours were lost wrestling with the issue, and with it any hopes of a breakthrough result. By day’s end, Cox had slipped to 13th overall, now 3 h 08′51″ off the lead.
From here on, the mission is survival: nurse the blue Sherco safely to the finish in Yanbu. Anything more would be a bonus — though a stage win, echoing Santolino’s Stage 3 triumph last year, would be a welcome consolation.
Zala Makes His Mark
Switching from two wheels to four is hardly uncommon at Dakar. Stéphane Peterhansel set the gold standard, with Nani Roma close behind, both collecting victories across categories. “Chaleco” López followed a similar path, earning stage wins on a bike before continuing his success in SSV and Challenger machinery.
But late converts to the truck category are a far rarer breed — and that’s where Vaidotas Žala stands out.
Across his first nine Dakar appearances, Žala flirted repeatedly with the top ten. In 2020, he even claimed the very first special stage ever run on Saudi soil, defeating the likes of Peterhansel, Sainz and Al-Attiyah. Last year, he made the bold leap from car to truck and delivered a solid fifth-place finish overall.
Today, he raised the bar again. By claiming a stage victory in the trucks, Žala became the first driver ever to win Dakar stages in both car and truck categories. The result vaults him into third overall, leapfrogging Aleš Loprais and closing to within just 33 minutes of race leader Mitchel van den Brink.
A statement drive — and perhaps the beginning of something bigger.
The RacerViews info
By Matt Hancock
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