Nasser Al-Attiyah has claimed his sixth Dakar Rally win after putting in a solid performance in the final stage of the 2026 event on Saturday in the Saudi Arabian coastal town of Yanbu.
Victory no. six
With this year’s event proving to be one of the most demanding in recent memory, with crews contending with rocky terrain, dunes, complex navigation and two marathon stages, Al-Attiyah and co-driver Fabian Larquin finished nine minutes 42 sec ahead of Spain’s Nani Roma/Alex Haro in the first of two Ford Raptors.
Taking third, thus sandwiching the winning Dacia Sandrider, were Mattias Ekström and navigator Emil Bergkvist.
Despite a tough few stages hampered by punctures and navigation, Saood Variawa and French navigator Francois Cazalet finished 10th overall as the best South African-entered team in their Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa GR Hilux IMT Evo.
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Teammates Guy Boterill and Spanish co-driver Orial Mena placed 14th, while another South African crew in Brian Baragwanath and Leonard Cramer crossed the line 16th in their Century Racing CR7 buggy.
After penultimate day heartbreak with a win still a strong possibility, Henk Lategan and Brent Cummings eventually finished 21st as the last South African team of this year’s event.
All in for Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa
For the local Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa team, the event not only a netted a top 10 overall finish, but also all three cars finishing within the top 20.
Besides their 10th place, reigning national Rally-Raid champions Variawa and Cazalet also won two stages overall, and rounded the event off with an eighth place result over the final 141 km.
“It’s my third Dakar and my third finish. We had the pace to be in the top five all the time, we won a stage and that brought confidence back into the team,” said Variawa.
“Some things were out of my control and cost us a lot of time, but I’ve grown a lot and the results are starting to show”.
Having experienced the most frustration of three-car team throughout the event, Boterill and Mena completed the final stage in 26th place, still enough for a top 15 overall ranking.
“We were in the top ten almost every single stage and then got caught out by a few mishaps. That’s Dakar. It’s a long race and things do go wrong. But the pace is there, the car was strong and there’s a lot to build on,” Boterill said.
Having been as high as 10th place before the final week’s marathon stage, Portuguese crew João Ferreira and Filipe Palmeiro eventually finished 18th after placing seventh fastest on the final stage.
“It’s not the result the team wanted or deserved for all the work we’ve been doing, but Dakar is tough and we learn a lot,” Ferreira said.
Toyota South Africa Motors Vice-President of Marketing, Glen Crompton, remarked, “The results don’t necessarily reflect the performance of the team. Just finishing a Dakar is an incredible achievement.
“The team delivered on the challenge we set them. Continuous improvement and respect for people are critical for us as a brand, and that’s exactly what this team showed. We’re really proud of them”.
Overall results
- Nasser Al-Attiyah/Fabian Larquin
– Dacia Sandriders
– 48h 56′ 53” - Nani Roma/Alex Haro
– Ford Raptor
– 49h 06′ 35”
– + 00h 09′ 42” - Mattias Ekström/Emil Bergkvist
– Ford Raptor
– 49h 11′ 26”
– + 00h 14′ 33” - Sébastien Loeb/Edouard Boulanger
– Dacia Sandriders
– 49h 12′ 03”
– +00h 15′ 10” - Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz
– Ford Raptor
– 49h 25′ 23”
-+ 00h 28′ 30” - Mathieu Serradori/Loïc Minaudier
– Century CR7
– 49h 41′ 55”
– + 00h 45′ 02” - Lucas Moreas/Dennis Zenz
– Dacia Sandriders
– 49h 44′ 43”
– + 00h 47′ 50” - Toby Price/Armand Monleon
– Toyota Hilux
– 49h 49′ 00”
– + 00h 52′ 07” - Seth Quintero/Andrew Short
– Toyota Hilux
– 50h 11′ 55”
– + 01h 15′ 02” - Saood Variawa/Francois Cazalet
– Toyota Hilux
– 50h 20′ 29”
– + 01h 23′ 36”
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