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Dakar Rally 2026: Al-Rajhi Faces Setbacks as de Mevius Seizes Early Lead

Posted : 05 January 2026

Saudi Arabia’s defending Dakar Rally champion, Yazeed Al-Rajhi, encountered a difficult start on Sunday’s first full stage on home soil, accumulating 16 minutes in penalties.

Al-Rajhi was punished for missing a waypoint and speeding, leaving him nearly 29 minutes behind X-Raid Mini driver Guillaume de Mevius, who now tops the leaderboard with 12 more stages remaining over the next two weeks.

Qatar’s five-time Dakar winner, Nasser Al-Attiyah, driving for the Dacia Sandriders team, sits in second place, just 40 seconds behind de Mevius.

 Al-Attiyah said, “We had a good pace and could have pushed harder, but seeing our teammate Sebastien Loeb with two flat tyres, we chose caution to avoid punctures.”

Czech driver Martin Prokop is third for the Orlen Jipocar team after 305 km of racing near Yanbu on the Red Sea coast, with Sweden’s Mattias Ekstrom fourth in a Ford Raptor.

In the motorcycle category, Spaniard Edgar Canet continues to lead, followed closely by KTM teammate Daniel Sanders, while American Ricky Brabec occupies third place on a Honda.

Botswana’s Ross Branch posted the fastest time in the 305 km stage but received a six-minute penalty for speeding, affecting his overall position.

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