KTM men back on top after Dakar Stage Five

2026 Dakar Rally

 Stage Five – Alula (Marathon) to Hail

The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team is back on top after Stage Five of the Dakar Rally, Luciano Benavides claiming the stage win, with a consistent Daniel Sanders finishing third, and moving back into the overall lead.

Stage five brought the first marathon to a close and proved extremely punishing on tyre wear, with riders traveling from the marathon refuge to Ha’il and undertaking a 356-kilometre timed special, linked by liaison sections for a total distance of 414 kilometres, with navigation and mechanical reliability remaining critical.

Back in 2024 Kevin Benavides claimed the win in Ha’il, and now two years later his brother Luciano added another to the family tally, leading Chilean Ignacio Cornejo by 3m51s and Aussie Sanders by 5m50s.

Luciano Benavides

“The pace was extremely high all day and I felt strong from the start. I had a small navigation mistake early on, but I stayed calm and focused on keeping a good rhythm. I then had a big high-speed crash, but thankfully nothing was damaged and I was able to get back on the bike and continue without losing confidence. From that moment on, I just committed to pushing and riding my own race, managing the tyres and staying consistent right to the finish. Tyre management was especially important today, and I’m really happy with how I handled it. Winning the stage after everything it took to be here is very special for me and gives me a huge boost of confidence and motivation for the days to come.”

Just off the podium was Bradley Cox (+7m22s) achieving Sherco’s best result of the week, followed by the leading Hondas ridden by Tosha Schareina (originally fifth, +9m13s) and Ricky Brabec (sixth, +9m16s), both of whom opened the special.

Ricky Brabec

“I messed up a pretty big opportunity last Dakar, I was injured from Morocco so I didn’t really have any time on the bike and time for any navigation training. I struggled to heal, but I’ve been working hard from Morocco to this Dakar and hopefully at the end it pays off. For now, I’m comfortable, confident, the bike is working really well for me and I’m really enjoying it, so hopefully at the end of this it all pays off. Personally, I want to stand on the top step, everyone does, right? But, hopefully at the end of this, we can walk away safe and happy.”

That all changed when Schareina was handed a 10-minute penalty post-race for missing a control to officialise his start, dropping him to seventh on the day – with the rider apparently not starting off the day between the flags. Schareina had spent the evening improvising a tyre repair, reinforcing his damaged rear with two plastic and a metal clamp. The penalty dropped him to 12th and pulled Toni Mulec into the top-10.

Tosha Schareina

“I’m really happy to be back here at the bivouac. It was not easy because on the marathon stage we have to save the bike and the tyres. All the riders had destroyed the tyres in the first 200 km and after that it was a a case of surviving just to get here. My mission changed and it was to open both days, almost 800 km, so we did a really good job and we’re in a good position for tomorrow and I’m happy with that.”

Rounding out the original stage top-10 were Neels Theric on the Kove in seventh, followed by American Mason Klein in eighth, providing a first top 10 finish for Chinese brand Hoto, who are taking part in the Rally GP class for the first time this year. The placing some good news for the constructor to offset the premature exit of Martin Michek from competition yesterday. Then we saw Konrad Babrowski and Preston Campbell across the finish line, respectively.

Skyler Howes left the marathon camp with serious concerns over his rear tyre after only makeshift repairs. Forced to nurse the bike throughout the stage, the American endured a difficult day, finishing 22 minutes down in 15th.

Skyler Howes

“When I finished yesterday’s stage I found a hole inside my tyre and already the mousse was going bad, so I’m very surprised to make it here. Today I just managed it. Yesterday we did some kind of bush mechanic repairs, I cut the sleeves off my underlayers and stuffed them inside the tyre and put the energy gels inside for lubrication. I think this only lasted maybe some kilometres but we got some wire strap, like hose clamps and tied that around the tyre. All of those repairs lasted maybe 60 kilometres and we had to go 350. So the rest of the time, all I did was stand up, put all my weight over the front and try to build as little heat out of the tyre as possible.”

Adrien Van Beveren was battling for the top spot on the special when a piece of wire got stuck in his wheel, bringing the Frenchman to a standstill, eventually finishing 18th and 32m21s off pace, dashing his hopes of recovering time.

Adrien Van Beveren

“I got a chunk of wires stuck in my rear wheel and so I had to stop my bike and remove it with a small tool we had with us for the marathon stage. It took me a really long time as I had to remove the wheel, then the wheel was stuck, it was really bad, so I lost a lot of time on that. I am disappointed because it’s frustrating to lose such a lot of time for that. I don’t feel it was my fault, it was in the middle of nowhere, it wasn’t because I wasn’t in the right spot, I wasn’t lost or anything, but we know this can happen, it’s part of the Dakar. Sometimes luck is part of it, but today luck wasn’t on my side.”

Suffering problems with the foam in his rear wheel, Edgar Canet was forced to stop and make repairs, losing over an hour. Canet had led the stage from the first checkpoint until around km 240, when his tyre woes kicked in.

Edgar Canet

“Stage five was much tougher than we expected, but that’s Dakar. The most important thing for me was simply to reach the finish, regardless of the time loss. The first 200 kilometres felt incredible – I was really in sync with the bike, the navigation, and the speed, probably the best feeling I’ve ever had on the bike. After hitting a rock and damaging the rear wheel, the priority completely changed and the rest of the stage was about surviving and bringing the bike back to the bivouac, which I managed to do, even if it was in the dark. Of course I lost a lot of time, but this is all part of the learning process. It’s only my second Dakar, and for me, every kilometre is valuable experience. I’m already focused on tomorrow and ready to move on and keep learning.”

Daniel Sanders back on top in the overall

The third-place finish saw Sanders return to the top of the overall rankings, ahead of Ricky Brabec, the virtual leader throughout the day, who found himself 2m02s off the lead at the finish line.

Daniel Sanders

“It was a very different marathon stage to what we’ve seen before, and bike and tyre management were key. I was able to make some time early on yesterday, but after checking the tyres at the first refuel I knew they could become an issue, so we had to manage them carefully. This morning the damage was getting worse, so the priority was not to push too hard and risk ending the race. I backed it off through the middle section and focused on getting to the finish, which was the right call. I’m happy to have limited the time lost and managed the situation well. We’re nearly at the halfway point now, but the rally is far from over. Tomorrow will be important to assess where we stand, and there’s still a lot of racing to come.”

The stage win saw Luciano Benavides climb into third place (+5m55) after Schareina’s 10-minute penalty, who in turn dropped to fourth overall, with Bradley Cox competing for the stage win earlier, but eventually falling short. Hero holds fifth overall with Cornejo, ahead of the Honda HRC duo of Howes and Van Beveren. Cox eighth overall for Sherco, followed by Campbell and Ross Branch.

The day after the first success of his career, Neels Theric  doubled his tally in the Rally 2 class, securing Kove’s second victory in two days. The Frenchman won the Rally 2 stage ahead of Konrad Dabrowski by 40s and Preston Campbell (+5m10). Theric just four seconds behind Schareina and a second behind Ricky Brabec – the official Rally GP riders.

Campbell kept hold of the lead in the overall rankings by 20m18s over Konrad Dabrowski. The Polish rider putting in a fine performance in second for the stage, to overtake Toni Mulec. Slovenian Mulec completing the overall Rally 2 podium, 20m54s behind Campbell and just 36-seconds behind Dabrowski.

Preston Campbell

“I’m not going to change my strategy, I’m going to take it day by day. We still have eight stages left so I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing, it seems to be working out. So I’ll keep ticking off the days and try to be the best at my navigation as I can and keep it going. The marathon was good, I had a nice time camping out there, good stars, the weather was nice and hanging out with all my friends.”

Toby Price finished the day down in 25th and now sits 15th overall in the Ultimate (four-wheel) class.

Aussie David Brock finished the stage in 89th, and moved into 84th overall.

Next: Stage Six

Riders now head into Stage Six from Ha’il, the longest stage of the 2026 Dakar Rally covering 589 km plus a 331 km special, or a massive 920 km in total, including a dune-heavy special across the Qassim region to Riyadh, which will be followed by the mid-way day of rest on Saturday.

2026 Dakar Rally Stage Five Results
(Provisional)

2026 Dakar Rally Standings after Stage Five
(Provisional)

2026 Dakar Rally Route/Schedule

2026 Dakar Rally Route/Schedule

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