The biggest difference of the year in Dakar. Toyota defeated its rivals in the 4th stage

Toyota factory driver Henk Lategan crushed his rivals in the Dakar on Wednesday, taking a convincing victory by more than seven minutes in the first part of the marathon stage.

In the 2026 Dakar, where Toyota’s form changes day by day, Lategan recovered strongly after Tuesday’s poor performance and achieved the fastest time in the 417-kilometer marathon stage around AlUla.

He was behind South African driver Sébastien Loeb (Dacia) at the start of the fourth stage, but took the lead at the second checkpoint. His advantage grew throughout the race – Lategan overtook 11 cars and took first place with a lead of 7 minutes and 3 seconds. This is his biggest advantage in this year’s Dakar and allows him to maintain his lead in the overall standings.

Five-time Dakar winner Al-Attiyah could not close the gap and finished the stage in second place. Marek and Eric Gochaly took third and fourth place in the customer Toyota Hiluxes. Loeb finished fifth, losing to Lategan by almost 18 minutes.

Michal Gochal was seventh fastest, ahead of the Toyotas of Toby Price and Saud Variawa. Matthieu Serradori (Century) finished ninth and Seth Quintero rounded out the top 10, giving Toyota seven top-ten finishes.

As in the second phase, Toyota’s increase in competitiveness was accompanied by Ford’s decline. Best among the American pilots was Matthias Ekstrjom, who qualified 11th, more than 26 minutes late. Carlos Sainz Sr. He finished 12th and Nani Roma finished 15th.

Reigning Dakar champion Yazid Al-Raji (Overdrive Toyota) retired after 234 km due to a series of tire punctures. Saudi, who has not yet fully recovered from his injuries in 2025, was previously penalized for 16 minutes for missing the checkpoint.

In the overall standings, Lategan is 3 minutes and 55 seconds ahead of Al-Attiyah. Ekstrjom was third, Sainz was fourth and Serradori was fifth. Guthrie fell from first place to 13th place in one day.

Results of stage 4:

Score after stage 4:

In the stage motorcycle classification, the top three were Monster Energy Honda pilots: Spanish Tosha Shareina came first with a time of 4:31.56, American Ricky Brebeck came in second, losing only 6 seconds to the leader, and another US representative, Skyler Hawes, came in third with a difference of 10 seconds.

At the end of four laps, Monster Energy Honda HRC pilots Tosha Shareina and Ricky Brebeck lead the motorcycle rankings, having the same total time and sharing first place, while Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Daniel Sanders is in third place, 1 minute and 24 seconds behind; Next up are teammates Edgar Canet and Luciano Benavidez, who are among the top 5 in the overall standings.

Results of stage 4:

In the truck class, the Czech MM Technology team, led by Martin Macik, won the stage with a time of 5 hours, 40 minutes and 19 seconds. The Eurol Rallysport team, led by Mitchel van den Brink, came second with a difference of 12 minutes and 49 seconds, while the Nørdis Team De Rooy FPT team, led by Vaidas Žala, came in third, losing to the leadership by 18 minutes and 9 seconds.

After four stages, Macika’s Czech team led the overall truck standings with a total time of 19 hours, 11 minutes and 37 seconds. The second place is taken by the team led by Mitchell van den Brink, which is 4 minutes and 28 seconds behind the leader. The top three were completed by Ales Loprais, who lost to Macik by 30 minutes and 2 seconds and was penalized for 3 minutes and 10 seconds.

Results of stage 4:

Score after stage 4: