Who leads after Dakar Rally returns after break?
11th January 2026The Dakar Rally returned on Sunday with the competitors starting their way westwards, back towards Yanub, but who leads the event after the seventh stage?
Feature image credit: Kin Marcin // Red Bull Content Pool
Following a rest day in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh, on Saturday, the Dakar Rally ignited its second week of action. It consisted of a 462km stage that would take the crews from Riyadh to Wadi Ad-Dawasir.
The 462km of terrain posed no major hazards to the teams, crews and riders with the fast sandy and fast conditions out on the stage. The only risk came at the cost of rushing through the gruelling challenge.
So, after stage seven, who stands in the lead of the Dakar as it begins its second leg?
Bikes
On the Dakar’s return, Red Bull KTM came out of the starting blocks with a 1-2-4 finish on stage 7, led by Luciano Benavides and Edgar Canet, who occupied first and second, respectively. Daniel Sanders found himself in fourth, four minutes behind the stage winner.
Monster Energy Honda’s Adrien van Beveren completed the top three positions in third place.
In the overall standings, Sanders remained in the lead with four minutes in hand over USA’s Monster Energy Honda, Ricky Brabec, in second place. Benavides rounded out the top three to give Red Bull a 1-3 position in the general ranking, four minutes behind the leader.
Car
Ford got the second half of the Dakar Rally off on the right foot, for the car class, with a 1-3 finish on SS7 with Mattias Ekstrom/Emil Bergkvist and Mitch Guthrie/Kellon Walch finishing first and third on the stage. Joao Ferreira/Filipe Palmeiro, of Toyota Gazoo Racing SA, sandwiched between the two Ford competitors, in second place.
Despite an 11th-place finish for Nasser Al-Attiyah/Fabian Lurquin, Dacia Sandriders, Al-Attiyah/Lurquin still stand as the overall class leaders. However, Ekstrom/Bergkvist has cut down the gap to four minutes, followed by teammates Nani Roma and Alex Haro in third.
Trucks
Nordis Team de Rooy’s Vaidotas Zala, Paulo Fiuza and Max van Grol found themselves on top of the standings as the Dakar returned with an elapsed time of four hours, 27 minutes. They were followed by the all-Czech crew’s Instatrade Loprais Team and MM Technology, who finished second and third, with Instatrade finishing nearly 90 seconds behind.
However, this did not change the overall standings as All-Dutch Eurol Rallysport remained in the lead, headed by Mitchel van den Brink, followed by MM Technology and Nordis, in second and third overall.
Read more Rally Raid here:
- Who leads after the first week of the 2026 Dakar Rally?
- Who finished where as Dakar Rally moved north for stage 2?
- How did stage one finish at the Dakar Rally?
- How did the Dakar Rally prologue unfold?
- Dakar Rally 2026: Schedule and route for Saudi Arabian event
- Dakar 2025: Problematic roadbook note affects crews
Give us a follow on Facebook, Instagram and X to keep up with the latest news from the world of Motorsport! You can also support us on Patreon!
Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
