The Ford M-Sport team of Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz and their teammates, all of them with the Ford Raptor T1+ Evo, will face from next Saturday the Dakar 2026, the great off-road event to be held in Saudi Arabia between January 3 and 17. The Spanish crews of Carlos Sainz-Lucas Cruz and Nani Roma-Alex Haro left for Arabia on the 27th. The objective was to have a few days of acclimatization, to coordinate with the team and to be able to test the mechanics in Saudi territory, recently arrived from Europe, in a private test of the team and later in the official Shakedown of the rally.
Ford M-Sport faces the Dakar Rally 2026 with the conviction of doing it with the maximum possible preparation, with the appropriate human and material resources and its four crews ready to squeeze the possibilities of their respective Ford Raptor T1+ Evo. In the presentations of both Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz, as well as Nani Roma and Alex Haro, both duos expressed their confidence in the great challenge that lies ahead.
Both Carlos and Nani were very explicit in reporting the improvements that the Raptor T1+ have received, which are summarized in a greater mechanical lightness of each car (about 50 kg) and better aerodynamics of the whole set. After a year of testing, many of them in pure competition, and the dress rehearsal that was the Morocco Rally in October, the new Raptors, reinforced and compact in appearance, are candidates for victory in this great event in January. The four units are brightly and modernly decorated, with Red Bull colors and logos and the vehicle’s own name clearly visible on the sides.
Ford M-Sport’s drivers and co-drivers, all with a wealth of experience, are the key part of the team. Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz are the spearhead of Ford M-Sport’s track record, which includes four overall victories. Sainz, a veteran who is facing his 19th Dakar (4 wins, 2 podiums), says: “It is probably one of the Dakars where I feel better, we have a year of experience with the car and the team and the improvements that have been applied to the Raptor are all in the right direction. A lot of work has been done and we have also competed in some raids that help us to be trained. And the strategy, which is an important point to take into account in the Saudi Dakar, we will establish it day by day”. Lucas Cruz (4 wins, 3 podiums) will race his 23rd Dakar, his 14th co-driving Carlos Sainz.
A more compact but also more technical itinerary
The 2026 Dakar Rally will start on Saturday, January 3 with the prologue event in Yanbu (23 km), a town on the shores of the Red Sea that will actually be the epicenter of the start and finish of the race. This prologue will serve to establish the actual starting order of the rally. The official start of the 1st stage will take place on Sunday, January 4, with a very technical 305 km special stage starting and finishing in Yanbu. The 2nd stage, Yanbu-Alula (400 km), will be held on Monday, January 5. The latter city will be the start and finish of the 3rd stage (422 km) on Tuesday, January 6.
The dreaded 4th stage (451 km), the first of the two marathon stages of the race, will start from Alula on Wednesday, January 7, with cars and motorcycles taking different routes. The participants will arrive at a bivouac in Alula where they will have no assistance and will only be able to help each other. After sleeping practically in the open, drivers and co-drivers will set off on Thursday, January 8 for Hail, the end of stage 5 (356 km).
After a very long 589 km liaison, the 6th stage, Hail-Riyahd (331 km), Friday, January 9, will take the competitors to the long-awaited rest day. The teams will have to focus all day Saturday, January 10, on reworking their mechanics at the service park in the country’s capital, Riyahd. The Dakar will resume on Sunday, January 11 with the long stage 7 (462 km timed and 414 km liaison) with sand between Riyadh and Wadi Ad Dawasir. This grueling day will give way to the 8th stage, Monday, January 12, starting and finishing from Wadi Ad Dawasir and 481 km of special stage, the longest of the entire race.
On Tuesday, January 13, with the 9th stage, things will be complicated again, as the second marathon stage will take place. At the end of this ninth stage, Wadi Ad Dawasit-Bisha (418 km), there will therefore be no assistance at the end and the teams will have to make do with each other in order to be able to compete in conditions for the 10th stage, Wednesday, January 14, a loop starting and finishing in Bisha and 371 km timed. On Thursday, January 15, the 11th stage, Bisha-Al Henakiyah, with 347 km of timed stages and 535 km of liaison, will be a maze of junctions and changes of direction.
Reaching the end of the eleventh stage will mean that the final part of the competition is in focus, as the 12th and penultimate stage, Al Henakiyah-Yanbu (310 km), will be contested on Friday, January 16, with a varied route between sand, river crossings and rocky territory. The 13th and last day of the race will take the survivors to the finish line and will take place on Saturday, January 17, with a loop around Yanbu (105 km timed, divided into two stages). It will undoubtedly be the most awaited moment for all: the three best teams will climb the final podium. In total, some 8,000 km will have been covered, 4,500 of them timed, spread over 13 stages. The great challenge of 2026 is about to begin.