The overall standings were completely turned upside down on the ninth stage – the Ford duo of Nani Roma and Carlos Sainz now lead ahead of Dacia spearhead Nasser Al-Attiyah
The overall standings changed on the ninth stage of the 2026 Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia. Ford took the top two spots: Nani Roma leads narrowly ahead of his teammate Carlos Sainz. Nasser Al-Attiyah (Dacia) has fallen back to third place.
The ninth stage was the first part of the second marathon stage at this year’s Dakar. The participants started in Wadi ad-Dawasir and headed north. There were different routes for motorcycles (418 kilometers) and cars (410 kilometers).
Navigation was crucial on the difficult, sandy terrain. The intermediate times made for an exciting race, and the overall standings were shaken up considerably at the end. Around kilometer 280, Al-Attiyah and Mattias Ekström (Ford) lost their way. Sainz initially benefited the most from this, but the Ford driver received a time penalty of 1:10 minutes for speeding.
Henk Lategan, who opened the route in the first section, had great difficulties. By kilometer 186, the Toyota driver had already lost 18 minutes. During the pit stop, he tried to repair the damage. It turned out that Lategan had problems with the power steering.
The drivers who started later had an advantage. Initially, Michal Goczal, who started in 15th place, set the fastest time. But his nephew Eryk Goczal, who started in 38th place, took the day’s victory. The two Poles are competing in their first Dakar in the Ultimate class with the Energylandia Toyota team.
Toby Price (Toyota) finished third, followed by Brian Baragwanath (Century) and Guillaume De Mevius (X-raid Mini). Spain’s Cristina Gutierrez (Dacia) made her mark with the sixth-fastest time. Sainz was the highest-placed top driver in seventh place (+15:31 minutes).
Roma finished eighth (+15:36). Al-Attiyah lost 26:23 minutes to Eryk Goczal and 32:32 minutes to Ekström. Sebastien Loeb (Dacia) had similar problems with the power steering to Lategan and lost just under 29 minutes.
This resulted in a new picture in the overall standings. Roma took the lead, but only by a minimal 57 seconds ahead of Sainz. Al-Attiyah fell back to third place. Despite losing time today, he is only 1:10 minutes behind. It wasn’t easy for anyone, as Roma reports: “I had three punctures today, but I think everyone had problems today. These two marathon days will be the decisive ones. We have to remain modest and calm and be just as ambitious tomorrow.”
Lategan was able to reach the finish line despite his technical problems. With a deficit of 6:13 minutes and fourth place in the overall standings, the South African is still in the running for victory. Ekström is fifth, 11:19 minutes behind.
Motorcycles: Daniel Sanders regains the lead
Navigation was very difficult at the start of the stage. A group formed with the two Honda riders Tosha Schareina and Ricky Brabec, as well as the KTM duo Luciano Benavides and Daniel Sanders.
However, the Honda riders took a different turn shortly before kilometer 84, giving the KTM duo an advantage in the virtual intermediate standings. Sanders initially pulled away from the rest of the riders on the track and collected time bonuses on his own.
As the stage progressed, Sanders was caught up by Schareina on the track. Schareina ultimately secured the day’s victory four and a half minutes ahead of Sanders. It was his third win this year. Sanders regained the lead in the overall standings. His lead over Brabec, who is now in second place, grew to 6:24 minutes. This is the biggest lead so far in this Dakar. Benavides has fallen back to third place (+7:05 minutes).
In the evening, the participants are once again on their own in a temporary tent camp. On Wednesday, the second part of the marathon to Bischa is on the agenda. Once again, the routes for motorcycles (371 kilometers) and cars (421 kilometers) are separate.
