Red Bull KTM’s Luciano Benavides claims victory at the 2026 Dakar Rally by two seconds after mistake in the final kilometres by Monster Energy Honda’s Ricky Brabec.

Dakar 2026 Stage 13 summed up:

After 8000 kilometres of riding across two weeks on a scenic tour of Saudi Arabia, the Dakar Rally has come to a conclusion with “just” a 100km sprint.

Finishing with a blast along the Red Sea coast, it was an emotive finish for this year’s race, harking back to years gone by where the race concluded in Lac Rose, on the African coast, in Senegal.

Fight to the finish

The final 100km saw the conclusion of a straight dogfight between two riders, Ricky Brabec and Luciano Benavides – and the two major teams Honda and KTM. After a tactical decision to stop and wait on stage 11, Brabec was in the driving seat with a margin of 3:20 today and started first on the stage, giving second-placed starter Benavides a rabbit to chase.

For much of that full-gas blast, Brabec gained more time in bonuses for leading than he lost to Luciano in the race to the flag, but it wasn’t over till it was over.

Brabec lost a chunk of time with a navigation mistake just seven kilometres from the finish, which handed the chasing KTM rider victory by a remarkable two seconds.

“I cannot believe it,” said Luciano at the finish. “I never stopped believing and trusting myself, that is the key to this success. I tried so hard, I missed the last two corners and almost died out there. This is my ninth Dakar and I never stopped believing and I never give up, never give up. Even though today I was losing time, and I could see Ricky was pushing, I thought it is not over until the last kilometre and in that last kilometre he made a mistake and I did it right and I can’t believe it.”

So close for Ricky

A third win for the American Ricky Brabec and for Honda was surely on the cards today. Once Daniel Sanders had crashed heavily and injured himself three stages ago, Brabec looked the most confident and calculated for the win. And it was all going to plan until that minor error seven kilometres from the flag.

Hats off to Ricky for his ’26 Dakar and the disappointment was clear at the finish. That the Dakar came down to two seconds after nearly 50 hours of racing is astonishing and pips the 2023 close finish between Luciano’s brother Kevin and Toby Price. The two KTM teammates at the time took it down to 43 seconds after Price made a similarly small error on the final stage.

Slightly overshadowed by all the above, the final stage win of the 48th edition of the Dakar goes to Edgar Canet by six seconds over KTM teammate Benavides. The other crazy guy in the KTM team, the one racing the last three days with a broken collarbone and sternum, Daniel Sanders, ends his rally somehow in fifth place and still had the strength to life Luciano on his shoulder (the other shoulder!) at the finish.

Honda dominant again

Third on the podium this afternoon in Yanbu is Tosha Schareina, who marches in with the Honda army swarming the top 11 overall. The Spaniard will look back on a simple mistake in the first week where he was penalised for entering the stage start area incorrectly and gained a 10-minute penalty. That, plus a couple of stages where he was a little below par, sees him third.

But two riders on the podium and five for Honda in the top 10 – Brabec and Schareina along with Skyler Howes fourth, Adrien Van Beveren sixth, plus Preston Campbell and Martim Ventura in the Rally2 category – show HRC is still the dominant force in the factory race team contest.

Slovenia rules Rally2

Speaking of Rally2, Toni Mulec delivers another victory for the BAS KTM team and a first for Slovenia at the Dakar. Overcoming a huge time deficit to previous leader Preston Campbell during the second half of the race, Mulec held the lead overnight and claims the second-tier trophy by over four minutes.

“It’s crazy how bad I started the Dakar, I made so many mistakes with navigation, I lost so much time,” said Toni. “Then the second week was going well and I didn’t make so many mistakes, just one big crash and the rest was good. I kept my bike safe this year and myself. I have a good team behind me, we are not a factory team but we take care of each other and I’m so grateful and thankful for that. I also have so much support form back home in Slovenia. I give this win back to them to say thanks for they did for me and my family.”

If only for Michael Docherty, who took fourth place scratch today and surely would have won this category but for a tyre blow-out on stage during week one.

The Rally2 podium is Mulec from Campbell and rookie teammate on the Monster Energy Honda team Martim Ventura, who has been equally impressive but also suffered a costly mechanical in week one.

OBM redemption man Melot

In the Original by Motul class it is fair to say Benjamin Melot isn’t just the winner but a moral victor too. The Frenchman threw away the win 12 months ago by missing a checkpoint but makes amends with a comfortable win this year in the toughest category of all in this race. Spaniard Josep Pedro is second and Belgian Jerome Martiny third. Congrats to all riders but especially those in this class.

Dakar 2026 Stage 13 provisional results:

*Riders with stars are out of the running

**Results will update in full once they become official

Provisional classification after stage 13:

Photo Credit: Marcin Kin + Marcelo Maragni + Florent Gooden | Red Bull