Henk Lategan Holds Dakar Rally Lead as Ford Dominates Stage Five

Posted : 08 January 2026

Toyota driver Henk Lategan managed to retain his overall lead in the Dakar Rally on Thursday, even as American Mitch Guthrie Jr. led a Ford one-two-three in the fifth stage across the Saudi Arabian desert. Lategan, last year’s runner-up, finished 17th in the 371km leg from Al-Ula to Hail, with Qatari rival Nasser Al-Attiyah just ahead in 16th place, reducing the gap between them to three minutes and 17 seconds.

Reflecting on the stage, Lategan described it as one of the toughest he has faced. “It was really, really, really difficult, one of the most difficult stages I’ve had to open,” he said. “There were no bike tracks, and many of the trails were extremely narrow. The rain washed a lot of them away.”

Sweden’s Mattias Ekstrom remained third overall for Ford, trailing Lategan by five minutes and 38 seconds. Stage victory went to Guthrie, marking his second win of the event after Tuesday’s success, and making him the first driver to claim multiple stage wins this year.

His teammate Nani Roma had briefly finished just four seconds ahead but was later penalized one minute for speeding, dropping him to second on the stage. Czech driver Martin Prokop, in a non-factory Ford Raptor, secured third place.

Ford dominated the overall standings, placing four cars in the top six. Roma was fourth, followed by four-time Spanish Dakar winner Carlos Sainz in fifth, with Guthrie sixth.

In the motorcycle category, Argentine rider Luciano Benavides took the 356km stage on a KTM, moving up to third overall. His teammate and defending champion Daniel Sanders reclaimed the overall lead from American Ricky Brabec, holding a two-minute, two-second advantage over Honda’s Brabec. Sanders emphasized the importance of tyre management in the challenging conditions.

“It was really important not to destroy the tyres, so I just took it easy in the middle part and made it through to the end,” he said. “I’m happy not to lose too much time and to manage the situation because it could have ended the race today.”

Meanwhile, Spaniard Tosha Schareina, who had led overnight for the factory Honda team, fell to fourth overall after receiving a 10-minute penalty for failing to depart the bivouac between the marker flags.

Henk Lategan Holds Dakar Rally Lead as Ford Dominates Stage Five

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