STAGE 11 Highlights
Dakar 2026 | Stage 11 | BISHA > AL HENAKIYAH
- Skyler Howes has a flair for showmanship and not just when curling his moustache and donning a cowboy hat. Since his debut on the Dakar, he has always been in the spotlight but has kept his fans waiting for a long time before winning his first special on his eighth participation to become the 9th American biker to win a stage. The route to Al Henakiyah lent itself perfectly to a show of force from the Californian, who is used to success on the Vegas to Reno race or the Sonory Rally, which both boast similar terrain. His charge through stage 11 will not enable him to improve on his best final result (3rd in 2023) but he is still set to finish the rally at the foot of the podium.
- The Honda clan has cooked up a strategy to try to secure Ricky Brabec a third outright triumph on the Dakar… starting with giving up his place at the top of the overall rankings! Adrien Van Beveren took advantage of his position as stage opener to wait for his American teammate after refuelling in order to share the openers’ bonus points with him. However, Brabec’s manoeuvring became more subtle, even daring, towards the end of the stage, as he chose to ease off in order to secure a starting position for tomorrow behind his main rival Luciano Benavides, even if it meant relinquishing the lead. The Americans definitely like to play poker with the rally but it cannot be denied that it provides plenty of suspense!
- As for KTM, the Argentinean new rally leader now indeed finds himself with a poisoned chalice. The pressure is mounting on Luciano Benavides, who now leads the overall rankings by just 23’’ and will be forced to start tomorrow’s decisive stage with Brabec hot on his heels due to a starting position 6 minutes afterwards.
- While the news is reassuring concerning Daniel Sanders, who was able to finish the stage despite injuring his shoulder yesterday, the Australian only managed to achieve the 13th best time of the day and will be unable to provide any support to Benavides tomorrow. This role could fall to Edgar Canet, who, due to his third place finish today, will start the special 3 minutes ahead of him.
EKSTROM ON THE CHARGE, AL ATTIYAH IN CONTROL
- The day’s route, which was quicker and less sandy than yesterday’s, was better for drivers seeking stage success than the favourites for the overall rankings who were among the first to set off. As a result, the pretenders for victory on the day were more likely to come from among the later starters. In this exercise, it was Mattias Ekstrom who crossed the finishing line with the fastest time. To win the eighth special stage of his career on the Dakar and his third this year, the Swede beat another Raptor driver, Romain Dumas, who missed out by 1’22’’ on his first stage win on the Dakar but still managed to achieve his best result on his ninth participation.
- For Nasser Al Attiyah, the horizon is clearing as he heads towards the sea. On taking starter’s orders in Bisha this morning with a lead of 12 minutes over Henk Lategan, the Dacia Sandriders team leader already had his mind set on driving to control the race. He applied himself meticulously to the task and 346 kilometres further on he discovered that, in addition to skill, luck was also on his side… and most definitely not on Lategan’s. The South African had already been bothered by many problems on this edition of the Dakar but so far had managed to fight to keep himself in a place equivalent to his result last year (2nd). However, everything changed after 140 km when he broke the bearing on his rear left wheel. The ensuing repairs put paid to his hopes of finishing on the podium of the Dakar 2026.
- The rather tricky role of Al Attiyah’s closest rival is now played by Nani Roma, who was the main beneficiary of Lategan’s woes, moving up a place on the podium. The Catalan’s Ford Raptor now trails the Qatari by 8’40’’, which is a gap that will be difficult to close unless lady luck or mister misfortune have other ideas once again.
- However, Roma will have to ask himself whether it is really in his best interests to adopt a conservative approach too, with a ten-minute lead over third placed Sébastien Loeb. The Frenchman is capable of pulling out all the stops to try and secure a one-two finish for Dacia should he manage to climb onto the second step of the Dakar podium for the fourth time in his career. That is his challenge for the rally’s last two days!
PERFORMANCE OF THE DAY: DUMAS WEIGHS IN WITH A FINE PERFORMANCE
Romain Dumas may well be a legend of motorsport, a three-time winner of the Le Mans 24 Hours, the world endurance championship and Pikes Peak record holder (5 victories) but his second place today, 1’22’’ behind Mattias Ekstrom, tasted like victory for the man who has been eating dust since the start of his 9th attempt at the rally:
“Doing the Dakar once every two years on the fly isn’t easy, the level is incredibly high. But for the last two or three days, we’ve seen that we’re among the fastest, always well placed at some point in the specials, without managing to capitalise on it, which we haven’t managed to do again today as we’re second. But we’ll try again tomorrow”.
Having been contacted by Ford Racing last September to come to Yanbu several weeks later behind the wheel of a Ford Raptor decked out in his own colours, the Frenchman accepted “an offer you cannot refuse”.
On the rally, Dumas has previously finished five times in fifth on a special but today he achieved his best result and perhaps this season he will have the opportunity to prepare better for a possible 10th participation in the Dakar.
Ford Racing registered him in the world championship alongside the American brand’s four official cars and his performance could “have an effect on what happens in 2026”.
Perhaps the scales have tipped in his favour today…
A CRUSHING BLOW: JUST HOW MANY BLACK CATS HAS LATEGAN SEEN?
Henk Lategan probably thought he had seen it all on this Dakar after being towed over the finishing line yesterday by his team-mate Toby Price. The South African’s power steering broke down but fortunately he was able to repair it at the pit-stop set up for tyre changes. Several kilometres from the end of the special, he ran out of fuel and declared in frustration, “I don’t know what to say any more. Everything that could go wrong has gone wrong on this race. I have amazing teammates and a fantastic car, but no luck. Everything that has happened to me in my previous participations happened all at once in this edition. It’s unbelievable”.
Despite all this misfortune, Lategan still occupied 2nd place in the race this morning, 12’ behind Nasser Al Attiyah. However, today, rotten luck pursued Toyota Hilux number 202. After breaking a bolt on his left rear wheel and an umpteenth repair session, the South African completed the special four hours after the day’s winner. When your luck is out, it really is out… Henk is continuing on the route to Yanbu but now with his focus turned towards Abu Dhabi, which is where the World Championship will end this season. Each daily performance on the first leg of the season can bring valuable points for the man who finished third in 2025 after having battled for victory. Maybe an inspection of his car would be a good idea, just to check he does not have a black cat hitching a ride with him…
STAT OF THE DAY
The number 10 has a special place in the heart of Skyler Howes but perhaps next year he will be asking the organisers for number 9, having added his name this year to the eight American bikers before him who have tasted victory on a special on the Dakar.
The Californian had to wait until his 8th participation and the start of his 81st special, whose programme was strangely similar to a Vegas to Reno race, for example, to join the stage winners’ club.
Chuck Stearns was the initiator in 1985, followed by Danny Laporte (1992), Jimmy Lewis (1997), Kellon Walch (2005), Jonah Street (2006), Kurt Caselli (2013), Ricky Brabec (2017) and Mason Klein (2023).
Collectively, these American riders have achieved 26 stage victories.
On broadening the focus to other categories, the USA’s competitors have obtained 14 stage successes in the car category, with Robby Gordon as the pioneer in 2005, followed by Mark Miller (2010), Seth Quintero (2025) and Mitch Guthrie (2026).
When success on specials accomplished in the Challenger and SSV races are added, the number climbs to 49, 20 of which were achieved by Seth Quintero in the first part of his career.
Altogether, the USA boasts 89 wins!
TRUCKS ACTION
MEGA-GALLERY
Quelle / Source / Pictures / Bilder: Dakar Rally, A.S.O
