RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Five-time Dakar Rally winner Nasser Al Attiyah heads the 2026 Dakar Rally at the halfway stage, as the world’s toughest motorsport event arrives in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh for its traditional mid-rally rest day.
After six demanding stages covering nearly 1,000 kilometers of competitive running across Saudi Arabia’s challenging rocky and sandy terrain, the crews arrive in Riyadh before the decisive final seven stages begin on Sunday.
Al Attiyah moved into the overall lead by winning the tricky 326km stage from Ha’il to Riyadh, finishing ahead of his Dacia Sandriders team-mate and nine-time WRC champion Sébastien Loeb.
As the opening week of the seventh edition of the Dakar held in Saudi Arabia draws to a close, it has delivered exactly what motorsport fans have come to expect: high drama, extreme terrain and a fiercely competitive field, with five different stage winners and the overall lead changing hands four times.
For Al Attiyah, the run from Ha’il to Riyadh marked the 49th stage victory of the Qatari’s illustrious Dakar career, extending an extraordinary streak of 19 consecutive Dakars in which he has claimed at least one stage win.
“I was working really hard today,” said Al Attiyah. “The first five days I took it easy, but today we tried to push. The car is working very well. It’s fantastic to have the lead. We tried to manage without any problems, a few punctures, and the marathon day was not easy. But we are happy and we need to keep up this strategy for next week.”
The rally began in spectacular fashion on the shores of the Red Sea in Yanbu on January 2, where X-Raid Mini driver Guillaume de Mévius claimed victory on the opening stage alongside Mathieu Baumel. The French co-driver’s return to Dakar, just a year after losing his right leg in an accident, has been one of the most inspiring stories of the 2026 event.
The depth of competition in the T1 Ultimate class has underlined why Saudi Arabia has become the perfect home for Dakar, with the rally now shaping into a three-way manufacturer battle between Toyota, Ford, and Dacia. Toyota has taken three of the six stage wins so far, and Henk Lategan sits just six minutes behind Al Attiyah in the overall standings, while three Ford Raptor drivers — Nani Roma, Carlos Sainz, and Mattias Ekström — occupy the next three positions.
There was disappointment for Saudi Arabia’s Yazeed Al Rajhi, who was forced to retire on the Stage 4 Marathon Stage between Al Ula and the Bivouac Refuge after suffering multiple punctures. The 2025 winner had been hoping to deliver a second consecutive home victory, but his early exit only highlights the unforgiving nature of the terrain that defines Dakar in Saudi Arabia.
In the bike category, defending champion Daniel Sanders remains at the top of the standings for Red Bull KTM despite taking just one stage win so far. A six-minute penalty on Stage 6 for a speed-limit infringement has reduced the Australian’s advantage to just 45 seconds, with Monster Energy Honda rider Ricky Brabec and KTM’s Luciano Benavides in close pursuit.
With Riyadh providing a moment to reset and regroup, the Dakar Rally’s decisive second week begins on Sunday, January 11, where Saudi Arabia’s vast landscapes, technical navigation, and flat-out pace will again decide who earns the victory in the world’s greatest rally-raid competition.
