Dakar 2026 Stage 2 Results: Daniel Sanders & Seth Quintero Take Stage Wins - Sanders & Al-Attiyah Lead

Published: Monday, January 5, 2026, 21:58 [IST]

The second stage of Dakar 2026 saw KTM's defending champion Daniel Sanders win in the bikes category to take the overall lead. In the car category, Seth Quintero led a Toyota 1-2-3-4-5 as 5-time champion Nasser Al-Attiyah took the overall lead. Click for more details about the Daakr 2026 Stage 2.

The second stage of Dakar 2026 saw Competitors head north from the coastal city of Yanbu on a 504km long journey to the oasis city of AlUla. The route, which included hilly and rocky terrain along with the usual sands of the Saudi Arabian desert, featured a 400km long timed special stage.

Dakar 2026 Stage 2 Results - Bikes: Sanders Wins & Takes Overall Lead

Stage 2 in the bikes category of Dakar 2026 was won by Red Bull KTM Factory Racing's Australian rider Daniel Sanders. The defending champion covered the special stage in a time of four hours, 13 minutes and 37 seconds as he took the overall lead of Dakar 2026. Sanders wrested control of the stage early on and then never looked back as he raced to yet another stage win.

Sanders was followed across the line by his 20-year-old teammate, Spain's Edgar Canet, the winner of the prologue and Stage 1. Sanders outpaced his teammate by one minute and 35 seconds. Rounding off the podium for the third day in a row was two-time Dakar champion Ricky Brabec. The American Honda rider ended stage two, one minute and 46 seconds behind Sanders.

Honda's Skyler Howes took fourth place on the second stage of Dakar 2026. The American rider crossed the finish line in AlUla with a time of four hours, 16 minutes and 52 seconds, three minutes and 15 seconds behind Sanders. Honda's Tosha Schareina took fifth place, ending the stage with a time of four hours and 17 minutes and 11 seconds. He was three minutes and 24 seconds off the pace of Sanders.

Ross Branch was the fastest of the three Honda riders, finishing the day in seventh place, three minutes and 56 seconds behind the KTM of Sanders. His Chilean teammate Ignacio Nacho Cornejo was the next fastest Hero in 11th place, nine minutes and 49 seconds behind Sanders. The final Hero rider, Austria's Tobias Ebster, ended the day in 18th overall, 18 minutes and 34 seconds behind Sanders.

In the overall standings, Daniel Sanders leads Dakar 2026 after Stage 2 with a time of seven hours, 42 minutes and 24 seconds. He is followed by his Spanish teammate Edgar Canet, who lies 30 seconds behind and Honda's Ricky Brabec, with the American two minutes and 18 seconds adrift of Sanders.

Spain's Tosha Schareina is in 4th place with the Honda rider, four minutes and 41 seconds behind Sanders. Ross Branch is the highest-ranked Hero rider in 5th place and is now seven minutes and 46 seconds behind Sanders. Nacho Cornejo is the next-highest-ranked Hero rider and is 13 minutes and 37 seconds behind Sanders. The final Hero rider, Tobias Ebster, is in 14th place, 31 minutes and 40 seconds off the pace set by Sanders.

Dakar 2025 Stage 2 Results - Cars: Toyota Recreates History As Al-Attiyah Takes Overall Lead

Stage 2 was another historic day at Dakar 2026 as Seth Quintero (Andrew Short - Navigator), lead a Toyota 1-2-3-4-5, the first time a manufacturer has take the top 5 spots on a stage since the first stage of the 2007 edition of the Dakar, when Carlos Sainz led five VW Touaregs across the line on the route between Lisbon and Portimao.

Quintero finished the 400km timed stage with a time of three hours 57 minutes and 16 seconds. Second place was claimed by Toyota's Henk Lategan (Brett Cummins - Navigator) who ended the day one minute and 42 seconds behind Lategan.

The final podium spot up for grabs for stage 2 of Dakar 2026 was taken by Defending Champion, Saudi Arabia's Yazeed Al Rajhi (Timo Gottschalk - Navigator), who took his Overdriver Racing Toyota Hilux across the finish line, one minute and 56 seconds behind the factory Toyota of Lategan.

Australia's Toby Price (who won the Dakar on two wheels in 2016 and 2019) took fourth place, ending the day four minutes and 36 seconds off the pace set by his Toyota Gazoo Racing teammate. South Africa's Joao Ferreira (Filipe Palmeiro - Navigator) rounded off the top 5, ending the stage four minutes and 56 seconds behind the Gazoo Racing Hilux of Lategan.

In the overall standings, 5-time Dakar champion Nasser Al-Attiya leads Dakar 2026 after two rounds of racing with a time of seven hours,12 minutes and 16 seconds. The Qatari Dacia Sandriders driver leads the race by just seven seconds from today's stage winner Seth Quintero from the Toyota Gazoo Racing W2RC factory team.

Stage 1 winner Guillaume De Mévius, in his X-Raid Mini takes the final podium spot in the overall timings and is one minute and nine seconds behind Al-Attiyah. Fourth place is currently held by Toyota factory driver Henk Lategan, the South African just one minute and 28 seconds behind the 5-time Dakar champion.

The final spot in the top 5 is taken by Dacia's Sebastien Loeb, with the nine-time (consecutive) World Rally Championship winner, one minute and 5 7 seconds behind his Sandriders teammate and rival Nasser Al-Attiyah.

Stage 3 of Dakar 2026 will see competitors take a 736km long loop around AlUla into the Saudi Arabian desert. Tomorrow's stage features a 422km long timed special stage and will feature the usual sands as well quite a bit of rocky terrain.