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Dakar 2026 Stage 7 Results: Luciano Benavides & Mattias Ekstrom Win - Sanders & Al-Attiyah Lead
The seventh stage of Dakar 2026 saw the second and final week of the world's toughest rally-raid kick off in Riyadh. In the bikes category, KTM's Luciano Benavides took the win, while Ford's Mattias Ekstrom took the win in the cars category.
The seventh stage of Dakar 2026 saw drivers and riders head from the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh to Wadi Al Dawasir. The 876km long stage features a 462km timed special stage and mostly sandy terrain.
Dakar 2026 Stage 7 Results: Bikes - Benavides Wins As Sanders Retains Overall Lead
Stage 7 of the bikes category in the 2026 Dakar Rally saw KTM's Luicano Benavides claiming his second stage win of the event. It was day of celebration for the Benavides family as Luicano's older brother Kevin, who won the event on two wheels in 2021 and 2023, take the stage win in the Challenger class of the cars category.
Benavides ended the timed special stage in four hours, and 56 seconds. The rider from Argentina ended the day, four minutes and 47 seconds ahead of his 20-year-old Spanish teammate Edgar Canet.
The final spot on the podium was claimed by Honda's Adrien Van Beveren. The French rider ended the day four minutes and 57 seconds.
Fourth place was claimed by defending Dakar champion Daniel Sanders. The Aussie rider ended the day five minutes and 35 seconds off the pace set by Benavides. American rider, Skyler Howes, rode his Honda claimed fifth place. Howes ended the day, six minutes and 46 seconds behind his Benavides.
Ross Branch was the fastest of the two Hero riders at the Dakar Rally today. The Kalahari Ferrari ended the day eight minutes and 47 seconds behind Benavides. Nacho Cornejo ended the day one place behind his teammate. The Chilean rider ended the day in 9th place, nine minutes and 10 seconds off the pace set by Benavides.
In the overall standings after Stage 7, defending champion Daniel Sanders leads Dakar 2026 with a time of 28 hours, 47 minutes and 31 minutes. The Aussie KTM rider is four minutes and 25 seconds ahead of Honda's Ricky Brabec.
The final podium spot is still claimed by today's winner KTM's Luciano Benavides, who is now just four minutes and 40 seconds behind his Aussie teammate.
Honda's Tosha Schareina continues to occupy 4th place in the overall rankings. The Spanish rider is 15 minutes and six seconds behind Sanders after Stage 7. Honda's Skyler Howes claimed the fifth spot and is 33 minutes and 14 seconds behind Sanders.
Hero's Igancio Nacho Cornejo now sits in sixth place after seven rounds of Dakar 2026. The Chilean is 33 minutes and 25 seconds adrift of Sanders. The other Hero rider, Ross Branch, jumped up to 8th place in the overall standings and is now one hour, 39 minutes and 22 seconds behind Sanders.
Dakar 2026 Stage 7 Results: Cars - Ekstrom Wins Again As Al-Attiyah Holds Onto Lead
Stage 7 of Dakar 2026 saw Ford's Mattias Ekstrom take his second win of this year's edition after coming up on top at the end of the Prologue stage. The Swede claimed his seventh Dakar stage win, ending the special with a time of three hours, 44 minutes and 22 seconds.
In second place at the end of the special stage of Stage 7 of Dakar 2026 was Joao Ferriera. The Portuguese driver ended the day four minutes and 27 seconds behind the Ford of Ekstrom.
The final podium spot today was claimed by Mitch Guthrie. The American driver, who has already won two stages at this year's Dakar Rally, ended the day four minutes and 55 seconds adrift of his Swedish teammate.
Aussie driver Toby Price, who is a two-time Dakar winner on two wheels (2016 and 2019), claimed the 4th spot on time sheets for the second stage in a row. The Australian was five minutes and one second behind the Ford of Ekstrom. Fifth place was claimed Dacia's Lucas Moraes. The Brazilian driver ended the day five minutes and 17 seconds behind the time set today by Mattias Ekstrom.
5-time Dakar winner Nasser Al-Attiyah continues to lead Dakar 2026 after Stage 7. The Qatari leads this year's overall classification despite finishing 11th today, with a time of 28 hours, 10 minutes and 15 seconds.
Today's winner, Mattias Ekstrom is now in second place in the overall rankings. The Swedish Ford driver is now just four minutes and 47 seconds behind Al-Attiyah.
Ford Racing's Nani Roma is now third overall and, during the rest day, had his 10-minute time penalty from stage 5 removed. He currently sits just seven minutes and 15 seconds adrift of Al-Attiyah.
Fourth place in the overall car rankings is currently held by South Africa's Henk Lategan. The Toyota driver, who dropped two places after issues two-thirds of the way down today's stage. He is now seven minutes and 21 seconds behind Al-Attiyah.
Ford's Carlos Sainz is now in fifth place. El Matador is now 10 minutes and 26 seconds adrift of his great rival, Al-Attiyah.
Tomorrow will see competitors take a loop around the city of Wadi Ad-Dawasir. Tomorrow's special stage at 483km long is the longest of Dakar 2026 at 483km and will see riders encounter a series of sandy and rocky terrain as they drive through canyons and rocky plateaus.
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