Dacia Sandrider driver Nasser Al-Attiyah won his sixth Dakar Rally title at the 2026 edition, which took place in Saudi Arabia. (Photo: Giuseppe Cacace / AFP) 
Dakar Rally great Nasser Al-Attiyah has set his sights on the overall winning record of another influential figure in the history of the off-road endurance event – Stéphane Peterhansel.
Driving for Dacia Sandrider, Al-Attiyah beat Ford’s Nani Roma by nine minutes and 42 seconds to claim victory in the car category for the 2026 Dakar Rally edition in Saudi Arabia. Roma’s teammate, Mattias Ekström, was third overall after a total of 8,000km of driving.
Al-Attiyah’s latest overall win took him to six such successes in the car category, just two behind Frenchman Peterhansel. The 55-year-old Qatari also won in 2011, 2015, 2019, 2022 and 2023. His victories have been with four different manufacturers.
/file/attachments/2987/127491181_630232.jpg "After his success with the Dacia Sandrider at the 2026 Dakar Rally, Nasser Al-Attiyah has won the race with four different manufacturers, including Volkswagen, Mini, Toyota and now Dacia. (Photo: EPA / Demi Baauw)")
“We’ve worked very hard since last year. I might not be showing much emotion yet, but it’s there, deep down,” said Al-Attiyah.
“We are so happy to win. We made the difference on the second day of the first marathon stage by building up a 12-minute lead. Yesterday was also important. That’s when we knew we’d won the race. This is my sixth victory. I still need to break Peterhansel’s record,” he added.
Top performance
Peterhansel’s overall win record of 14 Dakar wins is safe in this lifetime at least. In addition to eight wins on four wheels, the French sporting legend also boasts six victories in the motorcycle category, underlining his dominance in the Dakar.
/file/attachments/2987/11922463_524628.jpg "Frenchman Stéphane Peterhansel is the greatest in Dakar Rally history, boasting 14 overall victories in the car and motorcycle categories. (Photo: EPA / Andrew Eaton)")
Al-Attiyah won two stages on his way to a sixth overall Dakar Rally title. His performance was defined by consistency, which allowed him to maintain the lead even when not winning individual stages.
The Qatari, who also boasts an Olympic bronze medal in shooting from the 2012 Games, managed six top-five finishes overall in the 13-stage annual contest. In the final stage, having established a comfortable lead through consistency, Al-Attiyah took no risks.
He and his Belgian co-driver, Fabian Lurquin, cruised to overall victory. The 2026 edition also saw Al-Attiyah record his 50th Dakar win in the car division. Having made his Dakar debut in 2004, he is now equal with Peterhansel and Ari Vatanen in this regard.
Two-wheel tussle
In the premier motorcycle category (known as the RallyGP) KTM’s Luciano Benavides won by two seconds. It’s the narrowest margin of victory yet in the race’s 48-year history.
Benavides pounced on a navigation error by Honda’s Ricky Brabec. The American, a two-time Dakar winner, came into the final stage of the race holding a healthy lead of three minutes and 20 seconds. But Benavides capitalised on Brabec’s wrong turn for a maiden overall success in the Dakar.
/file/attachments/2987/12740567_636651.jpg "Luciano Benavides of Argentina, riding for KTM, finally registered his first overall Dakar Rally win after numerous misses in the past – by a marginal two seconds. (Photo: EPA / Marie Hessel)")
“To win by just two seconds is unbelievable. I even missed the last two corners and nearly crashed, so it was right on the limit, but it paid off,” Argentina’s Benavides said.
“I honestly can’t describe this moment. This is my ninth Dakar and it shows that if you never stop dreaming, never stop believing and keep fighting for your goals, anything is possible. I never gave up,” he added.
South African contingent
South Africa’s hopes of Dakar Rally success rested mainly on the shoulders of Henk Lategan, who was aiming to improve on the career-best second place he managed in 2025. However, Lategan had a horrendous time during this year’s race.
Despite being one of the fastest car competitors in the field during the 2026 edition, Lategan consistently suffered a number of mechanical setbacks which essentially ruled him out of contention as he eventually finished in a lowly 21st spot.
It was a disappointing conclusion for Lategan, who led during some stages and even won a stage. He remained in contention despite the drawbacks, until he suffered a decisive blow during stage 11. A mechanical problem saw the South African suffer a four-hour deficit to his rivals. He was second on the overall standings at the time.
/file/attachments/orphans/AFP_20260115_92TW829_v3_HighRes_AutoMotoRallyDakarStage11_147164.jpg "Toyota Gazoo Racing’s South African driver Henk Lategan stands next to his car after a technical problem during stage 11 of the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia on 15 January 2026. (Photo: Giuseppe Cacace / AFP)")
“This is the end of our Dakar. Everything that could be thrown at us was thrown at us. We carried on going and kept pushing. This Dakar tried to get us down and it’s managed,” said Lategan.
“We lost four hours in the stage. We’ve never broken something like this before. This was not supposed to break. If anything else around it had broken, we may have lost just five minutes.”
Lategan’s compatriot, Saood Variawa, was the top-performing South African in the car category after placing 10th overall. Fellow South Africans Guy Botterill and Brian Baragwanath placed in the top 20 overall. DM