Advantage KTM as 2026 Dakar Rally enters second week

The beginning of the second week of the 2026 Dakar Rally unfolded positively for KTM, who won Stage 7 on Sunday and continue to lead the rally.

Daniel Sanders’ advantage at the top of the Dakar standings is now 4’25’’ over Ricky Brabec, the Australian finishing fourth and 5’35’’ off the stage winning time while Brabec was ninth-fastest through the seventh stage and 3’40’’ slower than Sanders.

Although Sanders didn’t finish in the stage top-three, it was a KTM 1-2 on Stage 7. Luciano Benavides set the fastest time ahead of Edgar Canet. For the Argentinian, it is his second stage win of the rally after Stage 5, while for Canet his second place is a strong rebound after losing 10 hours on that fifth stage when he was one of several riders to pick up a rear puncture.

Canet was 66th after Stage 5, but the RallyGP rookie is now up to 50th.

The top-three in the rally are now Sanders, Brabec, and Benavides, the three split by 4’40’’, with Benavides now only 15 seconds behind Brabec.

Behind, Toscha Schareina is fourth after dropping eight minutes to Benavides – with whom, after Stage 6, it seemed he was in a battle for third – and now 15 minutes off the lead. Without the 10-minute penalty he picked up for not obeying the starting procedure in the second half of last week’s Marathon Stage, he would be right in the victory battle with his HRC teammate Brabec and the two KTMs.

Skyler Howes is now fifth and a further 18 minutes behind Schareina on the third factory Honda, passing Nacho Cornejo on Stage 7 in the overall classification: 11 seconds now separate the Chilean Hero rider from the final top-five position.

Adrien van Beveren remains seventh after the seventh stage and almost an hour off the lead, but with third place on Sunday he achieved his best stage result of the rally so far.

Behind, Ross Branch (who picked up 10 seconds of penalty time today, added to the six minutes he’d previously accrued), rookie Preston Campbell, and Toni Mulec now complete the top-10.

The Ultimate class continues to be led by Nasser Al-Attiyah, now by 4’47’’ ahead of Stage 7 winner Mattias Ekstrom, who regains his position as the leading Ford driver. All-Attiyah was 11th-fastest through the stage and 7’24’’ slower than Ekstrom.

Nani Roma was only 10th-fastest on Stage 7 but maintains a podium position in third place overall, 7’15’’ off the lead and six seconds ahead of Henk Lategan who drops to fourth after finishing 13th on Stage 7.

Carlos Sainz remains the third Ford in the overall standings, now fifth and 10’26’’ off the lead. 

Behind, sixth placed Sebastien Loeb continues to chip away at his gap to the front, now 15’39’’ after setting the sixth-fastest time on Stage 7. He was the second-fastest Dacia, one place and 10 seconds behind Lucas Moraes who is now ninth overall and just under 25 minutes off the lead.

Former RallyGP-class Dakar winner Toby Price had his best four-wheeled showing so far on Stage 7, setting the fourth-fastest time in his Toyota, five minutes slower than Ekstrom and 34 seconds slower than the leading Hilux of Joao Ferreira