Defender is top of the class halfway through the Dakar Rally

Halfway into the 2026 Dakar Rally, the competitors have more than earned their rest day. Mind you, Sara Price will want to get going again as soon as possible to pick up from where she left off. The Defender driver ended week one in Saudi Arabia with victory on Stage 6 in the Stock class. That means the team heads into the break with a 100% winning record so far, while Rokas Baciuška and Stéphane Peterhansel converted yet another podium lockout. 

Coming straight after the 48-hour ‘Marathon Stage’ endurance test, you might expect a gentler Friday run ahead of the rest day on Saturday. But oh no. This is the Dakar. It doesn’t know the meaning of mercy. Instead, entrants faced the longest itinerary on the entire event. 

Before even getting to the start of the timed route for Stage 6, there was a 322-kilometre road section out of the Ha’il ‘bivouac’ overnight camp. The competitive leg then plunged through the Qassim region slap-bang in the middle of the country, with the 331-kilometre race against the stopwatch taking place exclusively on sand - a first for the 2026 Dakar. 

Dunes stretched to the horizon, with only the occasional bit of wildlife to break up the view as the course crossed farmland. Even the finish line didn’t signal that the job was done. In this ultimate test of concentration as fatigue peaked at the end of a gruelling first week, there was still a 267-kilometre stint (for those keeping count, altogether that’s 920 kilometres) to go before the convoy finally arrived in the capital city of Riyadh. 

Up to her usual quick-starting tricks, Price bolted into yet another early lead in the Stock class that’s open to showroom-spec machinery. The Prologue and Stage 2 winner built a mighty 55-second lead over Peterhansel during the first 38 kilometres alone. Price and co-driver Sean Berriman stretched that to 1min40s after another 40 kilometres and, firmly in the groove, kept pulling away to sit 2min 25s clear of ‘Mr Dakar’ 160 kilometres in.

The gap stayed the same past the checkpoint at 250 kilometres. Three minutes behind the leader sat Baciuška and his navigator Oriol Vidal in the third Defender Dakar D7X-R, which uses a gearbox, drivelines, bodywork and chassis lifted straight from the production line as well as the twin-turbo 4.4-litre V8 from the Defender OCTA. 

Price kept the throttle buried to the line, leading from start to finish to chalk her second stage triumph (plus Prologue victory) in a shade over four and half hours. It means all three Defender drivers count two wins apiece. Her verdict: “Today was awesome to be in the dunes in the Defender for the first time. To hop in a machine I’ve never been in in the dunes and try it out, it’s just a whole other league. It impressed me more than I could ever say. I am blown away with how well it actually did. I had a lot of fun today. We got to drive with our team-mates and just battle it out all the way to the very end. We ended up with the win, so that was exciting.”

Peterhansel was the next one home to score second on the road, the 14-time Dakar winner trailing his team-mate by just 1min 50s. However, the rally-raid legend and his co-driver Michaël Metge were bumped to third in the final stage classification after being dealt a one-minute penalty for speeding. 

“Now, since the beginning, we’ve been on all the different types of tracks,” said Peterhansel. “The last thing we didn’t know exactly was the dunes. We did it today and the car was really perfect, so this is really good news. But it was not easy because it was 200 kilometres or more of just dunes. Never quiet, never fast tracks, just the dunes. Some were really tricky, broken, bumpy. But coming into the big dunes, it was super nice to do with a big engine. We were never stuck.”

Baciuška was promoted to second on the day – ending up just 2min 39s behind Price. On top of his Stage 1 and Stage 5 wins, that further helps solidify the overall Stock lead. The 26-year-old Lithuanian ends week one with a 45-minute cushion to show for all his hard work. Peterhansel completes the half-time 1-2 for Defender, with Price in fourth (a legacy of a broken suspension arm earlier in the week) behind the Toyota Land Cruiser of Ronald Basso. 

Baciuška added: “The kilometres were going slowly because the speed is not so high. In one big dune, we had to turn around and find a different way to go. So far, so good. Still leading, just need to keep like this without pushing risks and let’s see what we can do.”

After all that, Saturday now provides a welcome break. Although spare a thought for the mechanics who have to strip down and inspect the three Defenders ready for week two. The action resumes on Sunday, with the first of the final seven stages. A run from Riyadh to Wadi ad-Dawasir is made up of a 464-kilometre timed route plus 414-kilometre road section over fast sandy tracks lined with dense bushes. Come back here for more updates. 

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