Stage 8: Wadi Ad Dawasir > Wadi Ad Dawasir
Distance: 483 timed kilometers
Stage position: sixth
Overall position: fifth
Today was the longest stage of the Dakar Rally 2026, a complicated day in which the classification has only been adjusted. Currently, there are six riders separated by only 17 minutes, with five stages still to go in which any of them can take the final victory.
Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz, in Ford Raptor number 225, finished the day in sixth place, less than a minute and a half behind the day’s winner, Saood Variawa (Toyota). It was a quiet stage for the Spanish drivers, who are still in the fight for the victory and now face the marathon stage, which could mark the outcome of the race in the next two days.
Carlos Sainz: “It has been a long stage, with a lot of pace, but we are all going very, very fast and there have been very few differences. We reached the most important part of the rally, with the second marathon stage with no bikes in front. We are still ten minutes behind, but there are four or five cars of different brands very close together. It’s a nice rally. To start tomorrow behind the first in the standings is positive, but we have to see the next day, which is the most complicated, because in the second part of the marathon stage it’s not good to start at the front”.
Tomorrow’s stage
Wadi Ad Dawasir > Camp Shelter
Link > 123 km – Special > 418 km
The second marathon stage of the Dakar will be a real test of endurance, physical, mental and mechanical. On this first day, the tracks will sometimes be rocky and treacherous, which will force the riders to stay awake and restrained during the numerous changes of pace. At the end of the special, a beautiful stretch of dunes will be an appetizer of the next day’s menu. And, as in the first week, this marathon session will be contested on separate routes between the FIM and the FIA, and the bivouacs will once again be minimalist.