Motorsports
This is how Dakar 2026 breaks down in all categories after Stage 8. Motorcycle surprise and “Solpasso”. Carlos Sainz and Nani Roma forced to attack in marathon
Carlos Sainz and Nani Roma had already been cautioned after the seventh stage. The three most important stages of the 2026 Dakar Rally begin this Monday. And the first of these, a special 483km loop stage starting and finishing in Wadi al-Dawasir, already showed a decisive difference.
In the bike category,Luciano Benavidez’s opening means a change of leadership Before the second marathon stage of the rally. The Argentine opened the course and had such devilish pace that no one else could take first place and receive the bonus. Therefore, exceed sandersKTM’s teammate, is the heavy favorite in the general classification by just 10 seconds. The cross is Tosha Shalayna People who see their options disappear little by little, day after day they have to give up.
In terms of car classes, there were no major changes in the general classification, as results were evenly matched among the winning candidates. Henk Lategan looks set to take away the pain from the previous day and win the stage However, Valiawa snatched the victory with a difference of only 3 seconds, which no one expected. At least Toyota effectively regained its place on the podium despite the losses. Nani Roma. Catalan and Carlos Sainz If he wants to maintain his chances of winning this Dakar, he needs to attack in the marathon stage. the leader remains Nasser al-Attiyah.
Regarding the challenger division, Pau Navarro remains in command, with Yan Rosa as co-pilot.However, the lead gap with Nicolas Cabigliasso narrowed to 2 minutes and 2 seconds. The winner of this stage 8 was Puck Klaasen with just 3 seconds remaining.
Wadi ad-Dawasir 721km; Special 483km
Classification Stage 8 – Motorcycle
1. Luciano Benavidez (ARG/KTM) 4:26:39
2. Daniel Saunders (AUS/KTM) 4’50”
3. Ricky Brabec (USA/Honda) 5’02”
4. Tosha Chalayna (ESP/Honda) 9’47”
5. Adrian van Beveren (France/Honda) 11 minutes 56 seconds
6. Schuyler Howes (USA/Honda) 12’32”
7. Edgar Canet (ESP/KTM) 15’06”
8. Nacho Cornejo (CHL/Hero) 17’13”
9. Niels Selick (FRA/Kove) 19’05”
10. Martin Ventura (POR/Honda) 19’20”
11. Ross Branch (BOT/Hero) 20’20”
18. Arnau Jed (ESP/KTM) 32’13”
23. Josep Pedro (ESP/Husqvarna) 39’43” (Original: MOTUL)
32. Javi Vega (ESP/Kobe) 1:01’39” (Original: MOTUL)
55. Carlos Lopez (ESP/KTM) 1:47’30”
58. Iñigo Zardoja (ESP/KTM) 1:49’00”
76. Joan Guillen (ESP/Husqvarna) 2:29’02”
77. Rashid Alual (ESP/Husqvarna) 2:29’29”
81. Borja Perez (ESP/Husqvarna) 2:38’08”
82. Mario Garrido (ESP/Gas Gus) 2:41’51”
83. Juancar Torres (ESP/Husqvarna) 2:43’01”
93. Fernando Dominguez (ESP/KTM) 3:23’02”
classification common – motorcycle
1. Luciano Benavidez (ARG/KTM) 33:18.50
2. Daniel Saunders (AUS/KTM) 10inch
3. Ricky Brabec (USA/Honda) 4’47”
4. Tosha Chalayna (ESP/Honda) 20’13”
5. Schuyler Howes (USA/Honda) 41’06’
6. Nacho Cornejo (CHL/Hero) 45’58”
7. Adrian Van Beveren (France/Honda) 1:03’13”
8. Ross Branch (BOT/Hero) 1:55’02”
9. Preston Campbell (USA/Honda) 2:01’28”
10. Toni Mulek (SLO/KTM) 2:11’04” (Rally 2)
19. Arnau Jed (ESP/KTM) 4:46’25”
22. Josep Pedro (ESP/Husqvarna) 5:13’34” (Original by MOTUL)
31. Javi Vega (ESP/Kobe) 7:42’11” (Original: MOTUL)
44. Edgar Canet (ESP/KTM) 11:07’05”
52. Iñigo Zardoja (ESP/KTM) 13:17’14”
53. Carlos Lopez (ESP/KTM) 13:27’04’
63. Joan Guillen (ESP/Husqvarna) 16:07’00”
72. Rashid Alual (ESP/Husqvarna) 17:59’00”
73. Mario Garrido (ESP/Gus Gus) 18:01’55”
74. Borja Perez (ESP/Husqvarna) 18:28’03
89. Juancar Torres (ESP/Husqvarna) 39:05’23”
92. Fernando Dominguez (ESP/KTM) 43:05’47”
Classification Stage 8 – CARS
1. Sword Variawa / François Casale (RSA-FRA/Toyota) 4:20:35
2. Henk Lategan/B. Cummings (RSA/Toyota) 3 inch
3. Matthias Ekström / E. Bergqvist (SUE/Ford) 29 inches
4. Seth Quintero / A. Short (USA/Toyota) 37 inches
5. Nasser Al Attiyah / F. Larquin (QAT/Dacia) 1 minute 16 seconds
6. Carlos Sainz / Lucas Cruz (ESP/Ford) 1 minute 29 seconds
7. Guillaume de Moebius / Mathieu Baumel (BEL-FRA/Mini) 2’00”
8. Sébastien Loeb / E. Boulanger (FRA/Dacia) 3’02”
9. Nani Roma / Alex Haro (ESP/Ford) 3’38”
10. Brian Baragwanath / Leonard Kremer (RSA/Century) 3’48”
11. Matthew Serradri / L. Minaudier (FRA/Century) 4’15”
12. Mitch Guthrie Jr. / K. Walch (USA/Ford) 4’56”
13. Toby Price / Armand Monleon (AUS-ESP/Toyota) 5’03”
15. Michal Gokzal / Diego Ortega (POL-ESP/Toyota) 6’28”
18. Guy Botterill /oriol mena (RSA-ESP/Toyota) 7’55”
twenty three. Lia Sanz / M. Gerini (ESP/Ebro) 15’04”
26. Cristina Gutierrez / Pablo Moreno (ESP/Dacia) 21’28”
General classification – CARS
1. Nasser Al Attiyah / F. Larkin (QAT/Dacia) 32:32.06
2. Matthias Ekström / E. Bergqvist (SUE/Ford) 4’00”
3. Henk Lategan/B. Cummings (RSA/Toyota) 6’08”
4. Nani Roma / Alex Haro (ESP/Ford) 9’37”
5. Carlos Sainz / Lucas Cruz (ESP/Ford) 10’39”
6. Sébastien Loeb / E. Boulanger (FRA/Dacia) 17’25”
7. Mitch Guthrie Jr. / K. Walch (USA/Ford) 23’00’
8. Mathieu Serradri / L. Minaudier (FRA/Century) 25’04”
9. Lucas Moraes / D. Zenz (ALE/Dacia) 29’55”
10. João Ferreira/F. Palmeiro (POR/Toyota) 35’08”
11. Toby Price/Armand Monleon (AUS-ESP/Toyota) 40’26”
14. Cristina Gutierrez / Pablo Moreno (ESP/Dacia) 59’46”
17. Guy Botterill /oriol mena (RSA-ESP/Toyota) 1:11’31”
20. Lia Sanz / M. Gerini (ESP/Ebro) 1:27’58”
21. Michal Gokzal / Diego Ortega (POL-ESP/Toyota) 1:46’51”
Classification Stage 8 – Challenger
1. Puck Klaasen / August Sanz (PB-ARG/G-ECKO) 4:55.38
2. Dania Achille / S. Delaunay (SAU/Taurus) 3 inches
3. Paul Spirings / Van der Stelt (PB/Taurus) 21 inch
9. Pau Navarro/Yan Rosa (ESP/Taurus) 5’24”
11. Oscar Lal/Fernando Acosta (ESP/Taurus) 10 minutes 46 seconds
24. Joan Font/Adria Guillem (ESP/BRP) 1 hour 46 minutes 49 seconds
General classification – Challenger
1. Pau Navarro/Yan Rosa (ESP/Taurus) 36:18’05”
2. Nicolas Cabiliaso/V. Pertegarini (ARG/Taurus) 2’02”
3. Lucas Del Rio/B. Jacomy (CHL/Taurus) 40’46”
4. Yasir Seiadan/X. Flick (SAU/Taurus) 42’42”
21. Oscar Lal/Fernando Acosta (ESP/Taurus) 8:53’51”
26. Joan Font/Adria Guillem (ESP/BRP) 12 hours 43 minutes 35 seconds
Classification Stage 8 – Track
1. Van den Brink/Van Heun/Van de Pol (PB/MM) 5 hours:03.42
2. Zara/Fiusa/Van Groll (LTU-POR-PB/IVECO) 5’31”
16. Bolero/Gottlib/Lopez (ESP-BEL-ESP/Iveco) 3 hours:09’19”
18. Tibau/Nadal/Baz (ESP/Iveco) 36 hours: 26’18”
24. Blacksmith/Blacksmith/House (ESP/Iveco) 44 hours:26’18”
25. Alonso/Arteaga/Iveas (ESP/Iveco) 44 hours: 26’18”
28. Esther/Rivas/Jacoste (ESP/Male) 44 hours:26’18”
30. Ingels/Shotanus/Lopez (BEL/PB/ESP/Man) 44 hours: 26’18”
General classification – trucks
1. Van den Brink/Van Heun/Van de Pol (PB/MM) 37 hours:48.31
2. Zara/Fiusa/Van Groll (LTU-POR-PB/IVECO) 38’33”
15. Bolero/Gottlib/Lopez (ESP-BEL-ESP/Iveco) 20:09:32
17. Tibau/Nadal/Baz (ESP/Iveco) 87 hours: 47’10”
21. Ingels/Shotanus/Lopez (BEL/PB/ESP/Man) 177 hours:26’07”
23. Blacksmith/Blacksmith/Houses (ESP/Iveco) at 220h:09’39”
25. Alonso/Arteaga/Iveas (ESP/Iveco) 249 hours: 38’06”
28. Esther/Rivas/Jacoste (ESP/Male) 266 hours: 28’28”
Source: Mundo Deportivo
I am a writer at Sportish, where I mainly cover sports news. I’ve also written for The Guardian and ESPN Brasil, and my work has been featured on NBC Sports, SI.com and more. Before working in journalism, I was an athlete: I played football for Colgate University and competed in the US Open Cross Country Championships.
Motorsports
Former F1 pilot: “Look, everyone has already forgotten about him. Only a month has passed”
Former Formula 1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya believes that it will be extremely difficult for Yuki Tsunoda to return to the royal motorsport.
The Japanese driver joined Red Bull at the start of 2025, replacing Liam Lawson after two races. Even though he performed better than his predecessor, the team decided to replace him and there was no place for Tsunoda in the youth team.
In five years in Formula One, Tsunoda has competed in more than 100 Grands Prix. His best result was fourth at the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. He failed to score a single podium or victory despite having several prize chances, but neither the team nor the driver realized these.
Montoya believes that Yuki is forgotten by almost all teams today:
“Look how sad Formula 1 is. Nobody even thinks about Yuki anymore. It’s only been a month and a week since the last race and Yuki is no longer on anyone’s radar. That’s the reality of this sport. One day you’re a hero, the next day you’re a nobody. When you’re a hero, you have to take advantage of that opportunity.”
Source: Sport UA
Ruth Waterhouse is an author and sports journalist who writes for Sportish. She is known for her coverage of various sports events and her insightful analysis of sports-related news. With a passion for sports and a keen eye for detail, she has become a respected voice in the sports community.
Max Verstappen has said he does not pay much attention to rumors that some teams may have possible technical advantages in their new Formula 1 power units.
It has recently been claimed that Mercedes and Red Bull have found a way to further increase engine power, while other teams are trying to eliminate this possible advantage. The FIA will meet with power unit manufacturers on January 22 to discuss the issue before the season starts.
Rumor has it that such optimization could produce around 15 hp, which is a significant figure at the beginning of a new era in technical regulations.
When asked whether Red Bull had an advantage in the pre-season, Verstappen replied:
“It’s impossible to know. Everyone is trying to do the best they can and I, especially me, have to focus on driving the car. I’m not here to be an engine engineer and explain all the details. Ultimately, this is a matter between the FIA and the engine manufacturers. I drive the car and I believe we always do everything we can to get the best out of the engine.”
Source: Sport UA
Ruth Waterhouse is an author and sports journalist who writes for Sportish. She is known for her coverage of various sports events and her insightful analysis of sports-related news. With a passion for sports and a keen eye for detail, she has become a respected voice in the sports community.
Red Bull Formula 1 team president Laurent Mekies believes the Bulls will be behind their rivals at the start of the 2026 season, given the production of their engines and new aerodynamic rules.
“We know it will be difficult for us, especially at the beginning of the season. I think we will fall behind our rivals, but we need to hold on for a few more months.”
“I hope we come back to the top, but it would be naive to think that Red Bull will be ahead right away. We will be behind at the start,” said Mekis.
Bulls will produce its engines in collaboration with Ford from 2026.
Source: Sport UA
Ruth Waterhouse is an author and sports journalist who writes for Sportish. She is known for her coverage of various sports events and her insightful analysis of sports-related news. With a passion for sports and a keen eye for detail, she has become a respected voice in the sports community.
Former F1 pilot: “Look, everyone has already forgotten about him. Only a month has passed”
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