The Mechanics of Speed at Dakar
Maintaining high velocity in the desert requires more than just a heavy foot; it involves specialized engineering and extreme mental focus.

Truck Class Brutality:
In the truck category, drivers of 10-ton behemoths like those from MAN or Tatra often keep the throttle pinned to maintain momentum.
These vehicles utilize 1,000 HP, 13L diesel engines and massive suspension systems to "pound the planet into submission" while traveling at high speeds.

The Navigation Hurdle:
For bike and car competitors, "hauling ass" is complicated by the need to read road-books.
To manage this at 110 mph, riders like Lyndon Poskitt and Andrew Short have noted the need for large, clear navigation markers to avoid slowing down.
https://mastodon.social/@offroadracer/115810551176290254

The Dakar ranks as one of the greatest challenges of all extreme competitions. It is the pinnacle of the motor sports discipline and inspires adventurers as much now as it ever has. More than just a simple question of racing and speed, the Dakar requires off-piste navigational skills and consistency. In off-road races, endurance prevails and the slightest mistake costs dearly.
Coping with the living conditions, managing fatigue, and weighing up the risks of the race can only be achieved by a combination of peak physical condition and impeccable technical skills.
Over the past thirty-six years, this combination of physical rigour and technical performance has appealed to champions and little known competitors from a wide variety of backgrounds, all wanting to experience and make their mark on this extraordinary event.
https://www.youtube.com/live/WrpLG2NFi6Q

The #Dakar2026 is back in Saudi Arabia
Here is everything you need to know about it
https://youtu.be/S8m5TVoCfNU

Fresh from a season defined by success, Daniel Sanders heads to Dakar as both the reigning World Rally-Raid Champion and 2025 Dakar winner. The Australian delivered an exemplary year, winning four of the five W2RC rounds and becoming only the second rider in history to lead the Dakar Rally from start to finish. Confident and in top form, Sanders is determined to defend his crown and add another triumph to his remarkable career.
https://youtu.be/X-u83I46vig

So exciting, in particular for Mexicans, Sergio "Checo" Perez will be back!
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¡Qué emoción, sobre todo para los mexicanos, que Sergio “Checo” Pérez esté de regreso!

https://youtu.be/IuF9Yz8Qo74

All the major World Rally Car #WRC crashes during the 2025 Rally World Championship
https://youtu.be/VA2sY-Ly4FE

Top Pilots Rally GP - Dakar 2026 @RallyRaidRacing #TheDakar2026 @PuroOffRoad
https://youtu.be/vdf2isfQw9k

The 2026 Dakar Rally is just around the corner and promises to be one of the most demanding and competitive editions in history.
We've prepared this comprehensive guide so you know all the details before the world's toughest race gets underway.
Among the main changes, the 48-hour stage has been eliminated and replaced with two marathon stages, held midway through each week.
In these stages, participants will have to repair their vehicles using only what they have on board and spend the night without external assistance, testing their strategy, reliability, and human endurance.
https://youtu.be/hoqmrd0CxRM

The 48th edition of the Dakar has set a date for the world's rally-raiders in Saudi Arabia from 3 to 17 January.
https://youtu.be/bk3jAZYN5RM

Extended highlights prologue.
Across the desert Dakar 2026 will deliver a demanding route with dunes navigation and endurance staying true to the spirit of the most legendary rally raid event.
https://youtu.be/MYzXC4vrpMQ?si=WRuzyh0uHJFd1D7_

Edgar Canet continued his impressive run at the Dakar Rally, backing up his prologue victory in Yanbu with a commanding performance on Stage 1.
Making his debut in the RallyGP class, the young Spaniard and reigning Rally2 champion put in a polished ride aboard his Red Bull KTM to claim the stage win over teammate Daniel Sanders by 1m02s and extend his advantage in the overall standings to 1m05s.
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X-raid Mini’s Guillaume de Mevius topped the opening stage of the Dakar Rally on Sunday, overhauling long-time leader Mattias Ekstrom in a dramatic late turnaround.
Ford driver Ekstrom controlled much of the day’s 305km stage around Yanbu in Saudi Arabia, grabbing the lead at the second checkpoint on 70km before stretching out an advantage of over a minute in his Ford Raptor.

However, the complexion of the stage changed in the final 45km stretch, which featured a mix of dunes, sand and rocky terrain, with Ekstrom rapidly dropping down the order.
https://youtu.be/59hHeXVMF1c

Defending champion Daniel Sanders wasted little time reasserting himself at the Dakar Rally, claiming victory on Stage 2 in AlUla to move back into control of the event. The Australian delivered a measured but authoritative ride aboard his KTM to secure his 10th career Dakar stage win.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing teammate Edgar Canet led for roughly the first 100 kilometers before a minor fall allowed Sanders to close the gap.
Third overall after a trio of third places on the Prologue and Stages One and Two is former two-time Dakar winner, Ricky Brabec (Monster Energy Honda HRC).

Seth Quintero led a top-five lockout for Toyota in the second stage of the 2026 Dakar Rally, while Dacia’s Nasser Al-Attiyah leapt to the top spot in the overall standings.

While Toyota struggled at the start of the 48th edition of Dakar in Yanbu, it bounced back strongly in Monday’s 400km test to Al-Ula, with the Japanese manufacturer’s Hilux pick-up emerging as the class of the field.

In the overall standings, it’s Al-Attiyah who heads the stable after two solid if unspectacular outings near the Gulf Sea. The Qatari driver holds a slim seven-second advantage over Monday’s winner Quintero
https://youtu.be/jAyJ-AoEHlE

Very much worth to watch, lot's of action.
Honda got its first taste of Dakar glory in 2026 on Stage Three with a win by Tosha Schareina.
The Spaniard, second last year and second in the W2RC season, topped the 421-kilometer special by 2:17s ahead of Monster Energy Honda teammate Ricky Brabec.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Daniel Sanders took third on the stage and continues to lead the overall by just over a minute.

Mitch Guthrie led a Ford 1-2 in the third stage of the Dakar Rally to snatch the overall lead from Dacia rival Nasser Al-Attiyah.
Toyota’s mixed form in the 2026 Dakar continued in Stage 3. After securing a landmark 1-2-3-4-5 lockout on Monday, most of the Japanese manufacturer’s line-up was never in the reckoning around Al-Ula.
https://youtu.be/wWtMKvdJYhg

1567 kilometer in timed specials and the top 2 Honda's have exact the same time..... and we only at stage so this will most likely change. Tons of drama can be expected, it's the Dakar!
The bikes will leave for the second half of marathon stage on same tires!
At the cars Factory Toyota driver Henk Lategan annihilated the competition in the Dakar Rally on Wednesday, scoring a mammoth seven-minute victory in the first part of the marathon stage.
Due to the marathon rules, the competitors will not receive any external assistance ie team mechanics or spare parts and overnight in the bivouac (tents and ready to eat meals) before they venture from Al-Ula to Hail for the fifth stage of Dakar.
https://youtu.be/fvNjCkwdlRM

Motos: Ricky Brabec took his first stage win of the 2026 Dakar Rally today as the Californian pulled back a little precious time on race leader and perennial rival Daniel Sanders.

Cars: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).

https://youtu.be/aBn4gb5cYjw

Motos: Racing resumed today after the mid-point rest day and Luciano Benavides made the most of his opportunity on the run to Wadi Ad-Dawasir, charging to victory on the 459-kilometer special to claim his seventh career Dakar Rally stage win.
Cars: Ford’s Mattias Ekstrom has been gifted victory on Stage 7 of the 2026 Dakar Rally after long-time leader Henk Lategan hit trouble in the closing part and dropped over 10 minutes.
Lategan had been poised to take both the stage win and the overall lead as the Toyota driver headed the pack at the final checkpoint before the finish, having led Ekstrom by 1m46s, but the South African lost all of his advantage in the run to the chequered flag of the 459km stage between Riyadh and Wadi Ad-Dawasir.
https://youtu.be/N8GXEbKr3Dc

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.
https://youtu.be/GsIF5OArmE4

Luciano Benavides continued his impressive form at the 2026 Dakar Rally by winning Stage 8 and moving into the overall lead after the longest special of this year’s event. The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider delivered a near-flawless performance on the 483-kilometer test, collecting maximum time bonuses and securing his third stage win of the rally.

Saood Variawa edged out Toyota team-mate Henk Lategan in the final dash to the finish line to claim victory in the eighth stage of the 2026 Dakar Rally.
Despite being the longest stage of the 48th edition of Dakar, the 483km special around Wadi ad Dawasir offered the closest competition so far in the rally, with the top eight drivers separated by just under a minute at the halfway point of the day.
https://youtu.be/98yxgfBVGLI

Skyler Howes claimed his first Dakar Rally stage victory on Stage 11, becoming the ninth American rider to win a stage at the event. Competing in his eighth Dakar, the Utahn was quickest on the route to Al Henakiyah, a stage featuring terrain well suited to his background growing up in the rocky Utah and Colorado enclaves.
Benavides now leads the overall standings by 23 seconds, but faces increased pressure heading into the decisive stage, with Brabec set to start six minutes behind him.

Ford dominated Stage 11 of the 2026 Dakar Rally, as Toyota’s Lategan dropped out of the victory fight.
Ford dominated Stage 11 of the 2026 Dakar Rally, with Mattias Ekstrom heading a 1-2-3 while team-mate Nani Roma chipped into Nasser Al-Attiyah’s overall lead, and Toyota’s victory hopes ended when Henk Lategan dropped out of contention.
https://youtu.be/z-X9UnI9lFA

Dakar 2026 - Stage 12, Al Henakiyah > Yanbu.
All classes, moto,cars, trucks - no comments. Dakar pure!

Little reminder from yesteryear's Dakar (2017): no matter how good as a driver, no matter how good your race vehicle - a little luck needs to be there for real clusterphuk situations!