Dakar 2026, Stage 12: Al-Attiyah wins to extend overall lead

Nasser Al-Attiyah moved a step closer to a sixth Dakar Rally crown by claiming victory on the penultimate stage of the 2026 event on Friday.

The Dacia driver led the majority of the 311km test between Al Henakiyah and Yanbu, with Ford duo Mitch Guthrie and Mattias Ekstrom only briefly interrupting his hold during the day.

Al-Attiyah first shot to the front just before the 100km mark, dispatching early leader Guthrie as team-mate Sebastien Loeb briefly made it a 1-2 for Dacia.

Ekstrom snatched the top spot from Al-Attiyah at the third checkpoint, but the latter bounced back in the next 50km to reinstate the status quo.

The gap between the two remained under a minute for the next phase of the stage, but Al-Attiyah managed to extend his advantage to 1m38s at the final checkpoint before the finish, as Guthrie and Toyota’s Toby Price also joined the fight for victory.

In the final dash to the finish, Al-Attiyah managed to avoid any late drama to secure the stage win by 1m04s, sealing his second victory of 2026.

#219 The Dacia Sandriders Dacia: Sebastien Loeb, Edouard Boulanger

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

It also marked the 50th stage win of his illustrious Dakar career, drawing him level with record holders Stephane Peterhansel and Ari Vatanen as the most successful drivers in the rally’s history.

Guthrie ultimately prevailed in the fight for second, recovering from being four minutes down earlier in the stage to edge out his more experienced team-mate Ekstrom.

The Swede tumbled to fourth at the finish, albeit only 1m49s back from Al-Attiyah, after Price upped his pace in his factory Hilux to secure the final spot on the stage podium.

Eryk Goczal and his father Marek Goczal again managed to mix with the factory teams, finishing fifth and sixth respectively with Energylandia Toyota.

Both managed to eclipse nine-time World Rally champion Loeb, who was demoted to seventh at the end of the stage, more than five minutes behind team-mate Al-Attiyah.

Meanwhile, Nani Roma’s hopes of claiming a third Dakar win suffered a major setback with an uninspired drive to eighth, losing more than six minutes over the course of Stage 12.

#236 RD Limited Ford: Romain Dumas, Alex Winocq

Photo by: A.S.O.

Henk Lategan, who dropped four hours on Thursday due to a broken bolt, wound up in ninth for the factory Toyota team, with team-mate Seth Quintero finishing two places behind in 11th.

They were separated by Carlos Sainz Sr in another of the factory Fords, the rally legend yet to register a stage win in the 48th edition of the event.

With only a 108km loop in Yanbu to run on Saturday, Al-Attiyah leads the overall standings with an extended advantage of 15m02s over Roma, securing his grip on that sixth Dakar title.

Ekstrom leapfrogged Loeb to grab third place, but with just 29 seconds separating the two, the fight for the final podium spot remains on.

Sainz has settled into fifth, while sixth-placed Mathieu Serradori (Century) is being chased by Dacia driver Lucas Moraes.

Price remains Toyota’s highest-placed driver in eighth ahead of team-mate Quintero, with Guthrie climbing back into 10th place.

Dakar Rally - Overall results after Stage 12: