Schareina leads Dakar after marathon Stage Four

2026 Dakar Rally

Stage Four – Alula to Alula
(Marathon Part 1)

Tosha Schareina took the Dakar Stage Four win, making four stage wins to Spain of the five run so far – including the prologue. Riders undertook the opening half of the first marathon, with a 417 km special looping around AlUla, stopping at a temporary bivouac with no assistance for the night.

Tosha Schareina

“The mission for today was open from the beginning to the end and we did it. At the 200 km mark, Ricky caught me and we were riding together until the end. Over the last 200 km it was not easy, I expected something easier with the navigation but finally we are here at the marathon stage. We will try to rest and sleep well. At the moment everything is OK with the bike, we will see tomorrow what the stage will be like, if there are rocky sections again. We will see.”

Tosha Schareina and Ricky Brabec were left tied on time in the general standings, giving Schareina the edge over the American, as the rules dictate the lead goes to whoever was fastest in the stage.

Ricky Brabec

“It was a long stage. I started second today behind my teammate, Tosha. He did an excellent job opening. I started out a little bit slow today, but fortunately I found the pace and picked it up a little bit. I caught up to Tosha and me and him kind of navigated the last 200 km together, it was cool. It was a fun time. I think we’re both in a really good position, I think we’re both happy on the day. The terrain with the navigation was tricky because we were on these big slab that had no track on it and you just really had to follow the CAP heading and trust yourself to make it to the end of the slab and hopefully there’s a road there. It got tricky a couple of times and I got off track early on and just had to compensate the CAP heading and kind of go off piste. I got super lucky two times and the waypoint opened, so after that I slowed down a little bit and just made sure I was navigating. I caught Tosha before refuelling so we navigated together a lot today and it was cool, you know, we had fun and I think we did an excellent job. The bike didn’t touch the ground today, I’ve just got to check over the tyres, but I think for the moment the bike is perfectly fine.”

The victory for Schareina also made him the third rider to lead the 2026 Dakar Rally, after Edgar Canet (prologue and stage 1) and Daniel Sanders (stages 2 and 3).

The Spaniard now holds the lead with a time of 16h45m40s, tied with teammate Brabec. Sanders dropped to third overall with a fifth placed performance for the stage – 1m24s off the leaders in the overall, followed by KTM teammates Edgar Canet (fourth, +11m22s) and Luciano Benavides (fifth, +13m09s).

Stage Four saw Monster Energy Honda HRC (Schareina,  Brabec, Howes) secure the first team and manufacturer podium sweep of the 2026 edition with a six-second spread.

Skyler Howes

“A tough day. I probably caught a chill from the air conditioning and my energy was at its lowest today. I tried to look after my tyres because we knew there could be issues, and I think I have a problem with one of them. We’ll see how it goes tomorrow with my rear tyre. I think the challenge will be about who can make it across the finish line with their tyres. I believe mine is not in very good condition. So it’s going to be interesting to see how tomorrow goes. If my tyre fails that’ll be the end of it, so hopefully we can make it through tomorrow. Tonight we’re going to sleep out in a tent and hopefully I can get some good rest, I’m going to need it. I feel pretty drained right now. Overall, the stage went good for me, a couple of little turnarounds out there, but this one was a long and demanding one. This is the Dakar, it’s always been pretty difficult but the last couple of years, this first week has been really challenging.”

Ross Branch and his Hero finishing fourth only 16s off the leader, Australia’s Sanders rounding out the top five, 2m37s off the winner, followed by South American Ignacio Cornejo (+3m13s) and Luciano Benavides (+3m16s).

Andreas Hölzl – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager

“We’ve only had brief contact with the riders so far, as this is a true marathon bivouac with no internet or outside support. All three are doing well, and Daniel once again did a very strong job, especially managing the tyres on what was a very rocky stage. Looking after the bike is crucial over two days without the team or service crew, and he remains in a good position overall. It’s still early in the rally and we know it will continue to be challenging, but this was a solid start. Luciano also delivered a great ride today and is well placed in the starting order for tomorrow, continuing a very positive rally for him so far. Edgar is making steady progress as well, and in his first season in RallyGP he is doing a really impressive job. The first part of the marathon stage has gone well, and now we wait to see what tomorrow brings.”

Sanders struggled early on in the stage, falling behind by almost four-minutes, before the Australian picked up his pace in the latter part of the special, where navigation proved trickier for the first riders out, knocking that gap down to under two-minutes by km 374, before tapering back off to the final checkpoint.

Adrien Van Beveren conceded another five minutes, holding onto a top-10 position but now 27m24s behind the leaders, with an hour covering the top-10.

Adrien Van Beveren

“We had a few nice sandy pistes to ride, but we also had a lot of stones and rocky plateaus. So far we’ve had very rough stages. You can see it from the state of the tyres and wheels for everyone and the risk level is still high because you’re hoping a bad rock won’t end up under your wheels. The pace is really high and I need to get onto that and give my maximum. It’s still a long way from the end of the rally so I’ll keep pushing each day.”

In Rally2 it was a historic moment as Kove became the fifth brand to win in the Rally2 class, following KTM, Husqvarna, Sherco and Honda. The achievement comes courtesy of the Frenchman Neels Theric, who took his first career victory ahead of Toni Mulec (+7m35s) and Preston Campbell (+8m41s).

That came at the misfortune of the previous Rally2 leaders, a broken wheel preventing Michael Docherty from reaching the bivouac, ensuring a huge penalty. Meanwhile, Martim Ventura lost almost two hours due to mechanical problems, making a podium finish for the duo a long shot.

Tony Price finished the stage in seventh in the Ultimate class, 20m07s off the leader, and now holds 16th overall.

Australia’s David Brock finished the stage 92nd, and now sits 84th overall.

Next: Stage Five

Stage five will bring the marathon stage to a close, with riders traveling from the marathon refuge to Ha’il. The day will feature a 356-kilometre timed special, linked by liaison sections for a total distance of 414 kilometres, with navigation and mechanical reliability remaining critical following the overnight without outside assistance.

2026 Dakar Rally Stage Four Results
(Provisional)

2026 Dakar Rally Standings after Stage Four
(Provisional)

2026 Dakar Rally Route/Schedule

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