STAGE 1 Highlights
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- So far, the orange clan had dominated the field, with Edgar Canet and Daniel Sanders sharing success on three specials between them. However, the battle has now taken a different turn, with a first victory for Monster Energy Honda HRC, specifically by Tosha Schareina, who won today’s stage in AlUla, where he enjoyed his first stage win in 2024. The Spaniard, who finished runner-up to Sanders last year and on the outcome of the W2RC season, is positioning himself for the big marathon stage that awaits the favourites tomorrow. He has taken his place on the provisional overall podium, 1’13’’ behind his designated rival Daniel Sanders.
- The Australian was obliged to open the way for much of the 421 km against the clock on the programme. The only other rider to join him on the tracks was Ricky Brabec, who is proving to be another man in form at the start of this Dakar. Brabec has moved into second place in the general rankings, 1’07’’ behind Sanders, confirming the strength of the Honda team.
- In the KTM team, Edgar Canet was slightly behind the pace compared to the first three days and dropped one place down the rankings to fourth, 8’46’’ behind the leader.
- The situation in the Rally 2 category has changed dramatically since the start in Yanbu. After Neels Theric’s electrical problems, which caused him to lose 2 hours and 50 minutes on the prologue, and Harith Noah’s crash, it is now Tobias Ebster who has lost his chance to win the title for which he was one of the favourites (after 9th overall and 2nd in the R2 class in 2025). Due to a hand injury following a crash, the Austrian rider is expected to withdraw: although the rules allow him to resume racing, he will no longer be able to make his riding count in the battle between Mike Docherty, today’s winner, and Martim Ventura, who is 3’32’’ behind the South African.
- Following Seth Quintero’s success on stage 2 of the Dakar yesterday, another American driver, Mitch Guthrie, tasted victory on completion of the 421 kilometres on the day’s special, which also finished in AlUla. The prodigy, who is the son of a legend of US motorsport, had already won 10 specials in the Challenger class on his first four participations on the Dakar. His switch to the Ultimate class already proved conclusive in 2025 with an overall fifth-placed finish, but Mitch Guthrie has reached a new level today. With his first stage success among the elite on a route where many of his rivals were unable to avoid punctures, Guthrie Junior also took command of the general rankings.
- The rest of the day’s Top 5 is made up of Martin Prokop (2nd), who has obtained his best result on his 11th participation, followed by Guy Botterill (3rd), Lucas Moraes (4th) and Cristina Gutierrez (5’57’’ behind). However, the summit of the general rankings is dominated by one sole brand: five Ford Raptors occupy the first five places, with Guthrie followed by Martin Prokop (26’’ behind), Mattias Ekstrom (1’08’’ behind), Carlos Sainz (3’34’’ behind) and Nani Roma (4’02’’ behind).
- The American constructor is ideally placed, even if the gaps are still small. The Top 10 is today completed by Nasser Al Attiyah, who was toppled from the race lead but is only 11’39’’ from its summit. His team-mate Sébastien Loeb finds himself two rungs lower, trailing by 16’50’’.
PERFORMANCE OF THE DAY: A HISTORICAL TOP FIVE FOR FORD
An American driver leading the Dakar’s premier category is rather a rare thing. In fact, only three drivers have experienced such an honour:
. Robby Gordon after his victory on stage one of the Dakar in 2005 in Barcelona.
. Seth Quintero after his victory on stage one of the Dakar last year, in Bisha.
. Mitch Guthrie today, the first of the three to do it so far into the race.
This show of strength is all the more remarkable in light of the fact that the American brand Ford has also put five vehicles in the top five places of the general rankings. The provisional leader is followed by Martin Prokop, in a privately prepared Raptor, then Mattias Ekström, Carlos Sainz and Nani Roma, his colleagues in the official team. A closer look at the rankings reveals that no other constructor has achieved such a strong showing overall since 2007, when, on the opening stage in Lisbon, the feat was achieved by Volkswagen.
CRUSHING BLOW OF THE DAY: PRESSURE ON MÉVIUS-BAUMEL
Guillaume de Mévius and Mathieu Baumel finished their first joint venture in 23rd place in 2025 behind the wheel of an X-raid Mini. For their return after the accident that led to the latter having a leg amputated, the four-time winner of the Dakar as a navigator set himself three goals: “The first was to take starter’s orders and that’s done. The following would be a stage victory, as soon as possible, and a Top 5 finish at the end of the rally”.
Before yesterday, fortune seemed to be favouring the man whose inner force demands the respect of the entire bivouac. The Mévius-Baumel duo won stage 1 in Yanbu, but today in AlUla they were much less fortunate. The Belgian has drawn a premature line through their third objective:
“Unfortunately, I think we messed up our Dakar today. We got punctures and made several mistakes. First of all, we had to wait for Lionel Baud who gave us a spare wheel, but he had a puncture further on so we had to give him it back. We drove how we could and in the end it was Maria [Gameiro, the 3rd Mini in the race] who gave us her wheel to complete the last fifteen kilometres. It’s not been an easy day to digest. It’s very frustrating”.
STAT OF THE DAY: 11’39’’
The trend predicted by observers and indeed the leading drivers themselves before the start of the race is proving to be accurate: the competition is very tight in the Ultimate class. At the end of stage 3, the gap between general rankings leader Mitch Guthrie and 10th-placed Nasser Al Attiyah is 11’39’’, which is significantly smaller than in previous years.
The amplitude of the Top 10 on the Dakar’s Saudi editions after 3 stages:
2025: Henk Lategan (1st) > 35’04’’ > Seth Quintero (10th)
2024: Yazeed Al Rajhi > 26’12’’ > Vaidotas Zala
2023: Nasser Al Attiyah > 35’10’’ > Martin Prokop
2022: Nasser Al Attiyah > 1:08’ > Orlando Terranova
2021: Stéphane Peterhansel > 56’30’’ > Martin Prokop
2020: Carlos Sainz > 59’59’’ > Vaidotas Zala
The observation is even more convincing when extending the amplitude to the Top 20, with a gap of 30’38’’ today between Guthrie and Marek Goczal, whereas it has never been less than one hour at this stage of the race in the last six editions:
2025: Henk Lategan (1st) > 2:18’ > Giniel de Villiers (20th)
2024: Yazeed Al Rajhi > 1:01’ > Laia Sanz
2023: Nasser Al Attiyah > 1:15’ > Tom Coronel
2022: Nasser Al Attiyah > 1:56’ > Tom Coronel
2021: Stéphane Peterhansel > 1:29’ > Brian Baragwanath
2020: Carlos Sainz > 1:46’ > Alexander Dorosinskiy
TRUCKS ACTION
MEGA-GALLERY
Quelle / Source / Pictures / Bilder: Dakar Rally, A.S.O
