09/01/2026

Nasser Al-Attiyah regains overall lead with first stage victory

Nasser Al-Attiyah has reclaimed the overall lead at the 2026 Dakar Rally with his first stage win of the event, leading a Dacia 1-2 from team-mate Sebastien Loeb.

In the 326km of running from Ha’il to Riyadh, Al-Attiyah grabbed the stage lead around one-third into the day’s action from Joao Ferreira. Despite challenges from Seth Quintero and then Loeb, the five-time Dakar Rally winner took the stage win by 2m26s from his Dacia team-mate.

Coupled with Henk Lategan’s difficult day for Toyota, Al-Attiyah has also gained the overall lead. The 55-year-old was marked as the virtual overall leader at the midway point, the first time he had led since the end of the second stage, with his margin of advantage settling at 6m10s over Toyota’s Lategan.

Loeb’s late attack propelled him from eighth to second on the stage times over the second half of the day, marking his first Dakar Rally stage podium since 2024.

That forced Quintero into third for the Toyota W2RC squad, with team-mate Toby Price putting in an impressive charge to take fourth on the stage. That shuffled early-stage leader Ferreira back to fifth place for the South African arm of the Toyota effort.

Ford’s up-and-down Dakar Rally continued with Nani Roma and Carlos Sainz Sr sixth and seventh respectively having rarely featured at the sharp end during the stage checkpoints.

#227 Ford M-Sport Ford: Nani Roma, Alex Haro Bravo

Photo by: A.S.O.

Mathieu Serradori claimed eighth on the stage for Century Racing, ahead of Guy Botterill for Toyota SA, with Energylandia Toyota’s Eryk Goczal rounding out the top 10.

Heading into the rest day, Dacia’s Al-Attiyah leads Lategan in the Toyota with a three-way manufacturer fight developing, as Roma leads a trio of Fords from team-mates Sainz and Mattia Ekstrom (13th on Stage 6).

Loeb has climbed to sixth overall for Dacia thanks to his strong performance in Stage 6, overhauling Ford’s Mitch Guthrie who finished the stage in 11th place having opened the road after winning the previous stage.

Serradori, Goczal and Lucas Moraes (Dacia) complete the top 10 on the overall leaderboard.

The 2026 Dakar Rally will enjoy its only rest day on Saturday before the action resumes with Stage 7 on Sunday, which covers 462km of competitive running between Riyadh and Wadi Ad-Dawasir.

Dakar Rally — Overall results after Stage 6:

Pos	Driver (Co-driver)	Team / Car	Gap
1	Nasser Al-Attiyah (L. Lurquin)	#209 – The Dacia Sandriders	24h18m29s
2	Henk Lategan (B. Cummings)	#220 – Toyota Gazoo Racing WRC	+6m10s
3	Nani Roma (A. Haro)	#222 – Ford Racing	+9m13s
4	Carlos Sainz Sr (L. Cruz)	#225 – Ford Racing	+11m49s
5	Mattias Ekström (E. Bergkvist)	#226 – Ford Racing	+12m11s
6	Sebastien Loeb (E. Boulanger)	#219 – The Dacia Sandriders	+17m36s
7	Mitch Guthrie (K. Walch)	#228 – Ford Racing	+21m49s
8	Mathieu Serradori (L. Minaudier)	#214 – Century Racing Factory Team	+23m29s
9	Eryk Goczał (S. Gospodarczyk)	#205 – Energylandia Rally Team	+24m40s
10	Lucas Moraes (D. Zenz)	#223 – The Dacia Sandriders	+26m46s