Luciano Benavides Nasser Al Attiyah win Dakar 2026 – Introduction

KTM’s Luciano Benavides and Dacia’s Nasser Al-Attiyah emerged as the big winners as the 2026 Dakar Rally wrapped up after 13 stages of gruelling action across 8,000km. 
It was an especially close fight in the bike category, with Benavides defeating Honda’s Ricky Brabec by just 2 sec to clinch his maiden Dakar Rally win. Al-Attiyah, meanwhile, takes home his sixth Dakar title.

1. KTM, Dacia win big at Dakar 2026
2. Sanders P5 after racing with a broken collarbone
3. Hero MotoSports in top 10

2026 Dakar Rally results

Dakar 2026 Bike winner: Luciano Benavides, KTM

The overall lead in the bike category changed hands several times. KTM’s Daniel Sanders was an early favourite to retain his Dakar crown, but all hopes of that washed away when a crash in Stage 10 left him with a broken collarbone and sternum. Nevertheless, Sanders still completed the remaining three stages and finished a commendable fifth in the overall standings.

Heading into the final stage, it was Brabec who held the overall advantage, 3 mins 20 sec ahead of Benavides. However, the Honda rider made a costly navigation error, forcing him into a loop of about 3km to get back on track. Taking advantage of this, Benavides edged out Brabec by just 2 sec to claim his first-ever Dakar Rally title. This is also the narrowest winning margin in the Dakar Rally to date.

“I’d told everyone before the start that this Dakar was mine. Nine years in the Dakar and my first win. My brother and I are making history; he won by 43 seconds and I’ve won by two. I think I have him beaten on that front!” said Benavides, who follows in the footsteps of his brother, two-time Dakar winner Kevin Benavides.

He added, “Mathematically, it was impossible to beat Ricky today. But in yesterday’s road section, I told myself I had done everything right and I wanted to finish strong. Everything happens for a reason, and I think today was just one of those days.”

Indian team Hero MotoSports had two riders in the top 10, with Jose Ignacio ‘Nacho’ Cornejo P7 and Ross Branch P8.

Dakar 2026 car winner: Nasser Al-Attiyah, Dacia

In only its second year competing in the Dakar Rally, Dacia defeated Ford in the car category, with Nasser Al-Attiyah securing his sixth Dakar Rally title. This puts him just two short of Stephane Peterhansel’s record eight titles. 

“We’ve worked very hard since last year. I might not be showing much emotion yet, but it’s there, deep down. We are so happy to win. I think we made the difference on the second day of the first marathon stage by building up a twelve-minute lead. Yesterday was also important. That’s when we knew we’d won the race,” said Al-Attiyah. “This is my sixth victory. I still need to break Peterhansel’s record.”

This also marked a first Dakar Rally win for Al-Attiyah’s navigator Fabian Lurquin. Ford claimed a double podium finish, with Nani Roma second (9 mins 42 sec behind Al-Attiyah) and Mattias Ekstrom third. 

In total, 10 different drivers and five different manufacturers won stages in the car category this year.

Defender wins in Stock category

This year also marked Defender’s Dakar Rally debut with the D7X-R. Rather than competing for outright victory, Defender opted to participate in the Stock category, which featured a total of seven entries. 
This meant that key elements of the Defender Octa (that the D7X-R was based on) remain unchanged, including the 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8 and 8-speed automatic gearbox. However, an air-intake restrictor did limit power to meet the FIA Stock regulations.

Defender claimed the top two spots in the category, with Rokas Baciuska taking victory ahead of Sara Price. Stephane Peterhansel, in the third Defender, finished P4.