Tosha Shalayna does not give up and changes her plans. “I changed my strategy midway through the stage.”

Tosha Shalayna It will be difficult for him to choose the Touareg as the winner of the 2026 Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia. But that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. And that’s when the tenacity of Valencia’s Honda driver shows. The best example of this is the first half of this second marathon of the world’s toughest rally.

After winning, the Spaniard managed to turn things around within minutes on Stage 9 to claim his third victory in the Dakar. He again reached the finish line with a 4 minute 35 second lead over bike leader Saunders, more than six lengths ahead of Brabec and almost 12 seconds ahead of Benavidez.

”I made no navigation errors at the start of the special and from that moment on my strategy changed.Either. We fought hard to get as many bonuses as possible, but the dust and fast track made it difficult to overtake the other competitors. I gave my all on the dunes, but all the drivers stayed together until the end,” he said upon reaching the sheltered camp.

As a result of this ninth stage, Shalayna was given the responsibility of opening the course for the second half of the marathon. It is normal to waste time, but you need the help of bonuses to save time. 15 minutes lead over Sanders in overall standings The difference between him and Benavidez, who rounded out the virtual podium, is just over eight points.

“Next time, I’ll check the condition of the tires.”But there was no problem at all when refueling. I am knocking on wood so that everything will be fine tomorrow,” he said in conclusion.