2026 Dakar Stage 13 Results – Number Six for Nasser

The 2026 Dakar Rally has ended. 2026 Dakar Stage 13 was the final of this year’s race. The final stage was contested over 105 km of timed special with a short, 33 km liaison. The stage and ended in Yanbu where this year’s event commenced. Read our Dakar 101 article here if you are still learning about the race.

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The Narrowest Margin

Luciano Benavides has claimed his maiden Dakar title in the bike category. Luciano follows his brother Kevin’s triumphs in 2021 and 2023. Luciano started the day trailing his main rival Ricky Brabec. But he gave it his all.

“I never stopped dreaming, I never stopped believing. I told those close to me that I didn’t know why, but I just felt like it was still on. In the final three kilometres, Ricky took the wrong track and I took the right one. It was a glimmer of hope. I saw it was him and that he had to pull a U-turn to get back on the right line because crossing between the two was impossible.”

Benavides passed his American rival and never looked back, taking his KTM to the narrowest victory over the highest place Honda.

“Nine years in the Dakar and my first win. My brother and I are making history. He won by forty-three seconds and I’ve won by two. Two seconds after two weeks and over 8 000 km is hard to believe.” After 176 441 seconds over 8 000 km of racing, the margin represents a gap of just 0,00113 percent. Absolutely incredible.

Leader Leading Out

Nasser Al-Attiyah (Dacia) led the cars out onto the final stage by virtue of his stage win yesterday. The Qatari equaled the all-time stage victory record in the car category jointly held by Ari Vatanen and Stéphane Peterhansel, with 50 apiece. There was a chance he could go one clear today, but knew there’s a bigger prize up for grabs and would be keen to protect his race lead.

Click here to read why the Dakar Rally is such an alluring racing event.

Steady as She Goes

Al-Attiyah made a steady start, seemingly not taking any chances. There were several fast chargers starting down the order. With nothing to lose, most crews would be going flat out to the finish. The first to stamp his authority was Mattias Ekstrom (Ford), who seems to relish in the really short stages, having taking the prologue win this year as well.

Click here to read about the herioc comeback of De Mevius’ navigator, Mathieu Baumel.

Sebastien Loeb (Dacia) was making a push for the overall podium positions. As a result he went on the offensive as well. Henk Lategan (Toyota), who had a rally he’d rather forget, also went on the attack. Nani Roma (Ford), who was lying second on the rankings, made a bit of a push and gained a considerable amount of time on Al-Attiyah.

Roma gained over six minutes on Al-Attiyah just past the halfway mark, but conceded time to his Qatari rival in the latter sectors. The gap between the top two drivers stabilised with 40 km to go. As as result the Dacia driver remained firmly in the hot seat.

Stage Winner

Swede Mattias Ekström was too quick today and claimed for victory in stage 13. He was joined on the podium by Sébastien Loeb and Henk Lategan. Century Racing teammates Mathieu Serradori Brian Baragwanath rounded out the top five. As a result there were four manufacturers in the top four positions of the stage: Ford, Dacia, Toyota Gazoo Racing W2RC and Century.

Title Number Six for Nasser

Nasser Al-Attiyah was not to be denied and bagged his six overall Dakar win. The Qatari registers an overall win after three years. He adds the 2026 title to victories in 2011, 2015, 2019, 2022 and 2023. He also handed Dacia their first victory in only their second start.

Nani Roma was 6 min 20 sec faster than Al-Attiyah in stage 13 but that was not enough to deny the Qatari his sixth title. With Ekstrom finishing third, Ford placed two Raptors on the podium. Loeb was denied a podium spot. Carlos Sainz rounded out the top five with youngster Saood Variawa the top-placed South African in tenth.