Stage 5 of Dakar. Ford crushed everyone but could not return to leadership

American Mitch Guthrie provided the Ford team with a dominant result in the fifth stage of the 2026 Dakar Rally, finishing the marathon favorites with a score of 1-2-3. However, despite Ford’s success in the stage, Toyota driver Henk Lategan managed to maintain the lead in the overall standings.

The 371-kilometer special stage between Al-Ula and Hail was determined by Ford teammates Guthrie and Nani Roma, who changed positions several times during the day. Roman relied on a strong final segment and even overtook the American in the final kilometers, but after the finish the Spaniard received a fine for speeding, which handed the victory back to Guthrie. For the 29-year-old pilot, this is already the second stage win in the Dakar.

As a result, Roma finished second, and third place went to customer Martin Prokop with his Ford Raptor. Three more Ford drivers finished the day in the top 7: Dennis Krotov, Matthias Ekstrom and Carlos Sainz Sr. The only one who managed to squeeze himself in among the numerous Fords was current world rally raid champion Lucas Moraes, who led the Dacia to fourth place.

For Toyota, the stage was much more difficult: Joao Ferreira finished only eighth in the top Hilux, while overall leader Lategan started first with no navigation marks and lost almost 13 minutes, finishing the day in 16th place. Despite this, the South African maintained his lead in the general classification, but his lead over Nasser Al-Attiyah dropped to 3 minutes and 17 seconds.

After five stages, the four Ford drivers are ranked third through sixth in the overall standings. Ahead of us is the final stage before the rest day in Riyadh.

Stage 5 results:

Score after stage 5:

Argentinian Luciano Benavidez from Red Bull KTM Factory Racing won the motorcycle stage with a time of 4 hours, 5 minutes and 16 seconds. The second place went to Chilean Ignacio “Nacho” Cornejo from Hero Motosports Team Rally, who finished 3 minutes and 51 seconds behind, while the third place went to Australian Daniel Sanders from Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, who finished 5 minutes and 50 seconds behind.

Sanders ranks first in the overall motorcycle rankings with a total time of 20 hours, 58 minutes and 10 seconds. Monster Energy Honda HRC’s American rider Ricky Brabec is in second place, 2 minutes and 2 seconds behind, while Benavidez is in third place, 5 minutes and 55 seconds behind the leader.

Stage 5 results:

Score after stage 5:

Among the trucks, the Czech team consisting of Martin Macik, František Tomášek and David Švanda from MM Technology took first place with a time of 4 hours, 30 minutes and 26 seconds. The second place was taken by the Dutch trio of Kuipers Jongbloed Hybrid, consisting of Kay Goosink, Rob Boursen and Gerrit Schoneveld, 3 minutes and 18 seconds behind. Third place was 4 minutes and 1 second behind Eurol Rallysport’s Mitchel van den Brink, Bart van Heun and Jarno van de Poel.

After five stages, the team of MM Technology’s Martin Macik, František Tomášek and David Šwand took the lead in the truck class. The second place was taken by the trio of Mitchell van den Brink, Bart van Heun and Jarno van de Poel from Eurol Rallysport, while the Czech team consisting of Ales Loprais, David Kripal and Jiri Strauss from Instatrade Loprais Team De Rooy FPT took the third place.

Stage 5 results:

Score after stage 5: