Dakar 2026, Stage 1: Mini snatches win from Ford as Ekstrom drops back

X-raid Mini’s Guillaume de Mevius topped the opening stage of the Dakar Rally on Sunday, overhauling long-time leader Mattias Ekstrom in a dramatic late turnaround.

Ford driver Ekstrom controlled much of the day’s 305km stage around Yanbu in Saudi Arabia, grabbing the lead at the second checkpoint on 70km before stretching out an advantage of over a minute in his Ford Raptor.

De Mevius was Ekstrom’s closest challenger with about 120km left to run, 53s adrift off the top spot, before disappearing from the leaderboard due to a transponder issue. 

This left Ekstrom with a lead of 1m20s over Nasser Al-Attiyah at the penultimate checkpoint, with Energylandia’s Marek Goczal and MD Sport stalwart Martin Prokop trailing in third and fourth respectively.

However, the complexion of the stage changed in the final 45km stretch, which featured a mix of dunes, sand and rocky terrain, with Ekstrom rapidly dropping down the order.

This allowed de Mevius to take a surprise win by 40s, marking Mini’s second opening-stage win in two years.

Dacia’s star driver Al-Attiyah also came through to grab second place, completing a remarkable comeback from a slow start that had left him outside the top 10 at the first checkpoint.

#226 Ford M-Sport Ford: Mattias Ekstrom, Emil Bergkvist

Photo by: A.S.O.

Prokop eventually finished the stage in third position in his customer Ford Raptor, while Ekstrom slipped to fourth in the final reckoning, not helped by a 10s penalty for speeding.

Goczal eventually finished fifth in the leading Toyota Hilux, two spots ahead of factory driver Guy Botterill, who is representing Toyota’s South African arm.

They were separated by four-time Dakar winner Carlos Sainz Sr, who ran as high as third in the stage before slipping to sixth position, 1m54s down on winner de Mevius.

Sainz’s factory Ford team-mates Nani Roma and Mitch Guthrie finished eighth and ninth respectively, making it five cars from the Blue Oval inside the top 10.

Having been Ekstrom’s closest challenger at one point, nine-time World Rally champion Sebastien Loeb haemorrhaged over three minutes and eventually ended the day 10th on the timesheets. 

It was a difficult day for Toyota’s factory World-Rally Raid Championship team, with its trio of drivers finishing 16th, 17th and 18th respectively. Two-time bikes champion Toby Price led the squad in 16th place, with last year’s runner-up Henk Lategan ending the day just behind him after opening the road in sandy conditions. Seth Quintero completed the trio in 18th after being hit with a two-minute penalty for speeding.

Reigning Dakar champion Yazeed Al-Rajhi also endured a miserable start to his title defence, dropping 12 minutes through the stage in his Overdrive-entered Toyota. A mammoth 16-minute penalty for missing a waypoint and speeding compounded his day, leaving him outside the top 20 in the standings.

Dakar results - Top 10 after Stage 1: