RIYADH, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- Spain's Edgar Canet of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing won Stage 1 of the 2026 Dakar Rally on Sunday, tightening his grip on the overall lead after the first full day of racing around the Red Sea port city of Yanbu in Saudi Arabia.
Stage 1 featured a 305-kilometer timed special and 213 km of liaison. Canet clocked 3 hours, 16 minutes and 11 seconds to take the motorcycle stage win, beating teammate Daniel Sanders by one minute and two seconds, with Monster Energy Honda HRC rider Ricky Brabec finishing third, 1:32 behind the winner.
Botswana's Ross Branch posted the fastest riding time on the special, but a six-minute speeding penalty dropped him out of the battle for victory.
With the prologue included, Canet led the overall motorcycle standings at 3:27:42, holding a 1:05 advantage over Sanders, while Brabec sat third at 1:37 off the lead.
In Rally2, South Africa's Michael Docherty claimed his 11th win in the class, edging Honda rookie Martim Ventura by 1 minute and 28 seconds after Ventura had led for much of the stage.
In the car category, Belgium's Guillaume de Mevius and navigator Mathieu Baumel delivered a notable stage victory for X-Raid Mini, finishing the day in 3:07:49. Dakar organizers said the result carried extra significance as Baumel returned to competition after having lost his right leg in an accident.
Five-time Dakar winner Nasser Al-Attiyah of Qatar placed second for the Dacia Sandriders, 40 seconds behind De Mevius, while Czech driver Martin Prokop was third, 1:27 adrift. Prologue pacesetter Mattias Ekstrom, who led for much of the stage in a Ford Raptor, was classified fifth after a 20-second penalty, 1:48 off the lead.
Nine-time world rally champion Sebastien Loeb finished 10th after two early punctures, while defending champion Yazeed Al Rajhi had a difficult day, ending the stage almost 29 minutes behind De Mevius after two penalties totaling 16 minutes, one for missing a waypoint and another for speeding, organizers said.
The 48th edition of the Dakar Rally runs from January 3 to 17 in Saudi Arabia, with Stage 2 taking competitors from Yanbu inland to AlUla. ■
