The Dakar Rally 2026 started this Friday in Yanbu with the dispute of the prologue stage. A first appetizer of 22 kilometers, with no effect on the general classification, but decisive to establish the starting order of the first stage.
Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz, at the wheel of the Ford Raptor T1+ Evo, finished eighth, 15 seconds behind teammate Mattias Ekström. In a short and fast special stage, marked by the presence of rocks, Sainz opted for a conservative strategy, prioritizing the planning of the next few days over the search for the best time.
Carlos Sainz: “The prologue went well, no problems. It was a fairly fast special stage, with some trial areas where you had to be careful with the rocks. In general, it was a very fast and difficult section where you had to go because there was no trace or a certain path, but it was good. Tomorrow is really important, and especially the second day, which seems that there will be a lot of stones too. Today’s time was important for the position, but now we have to think about what is the good position for tomorrow and the next day, not only for the first stage. On the second day there are a lot of rocks and going out in front is not a very good idea. With this in mind, I wouldn’t want to run a mega special tomorrow, because that would mean opening the next day. You have to go day by day, but if you can, thinking a little bit ahead is better. Tomorrow and the day after we will have to be careful; they will be rocky and complicated days”.
Prologue classification
- Henk Lategan (Toyota) 15.28.06
- Mattias Ekström (Ford) +00.01
- Nasser Al-Attiyah (Dacia) +00.20
- Rokas Baciuska (Overdrive) +00.21
- Carlos Sainz – Lucas Cruz (Ford Raptor T1+) +01.14