Dakar 2026: Nasser Al-Attiyah takes overall lead for Dacia with Stage 6 win
We recap Stage 6 of the 2026 Dakar Rally, which took place on January 8.
As expected, Nasser Al-Attiyah dominated Stage 6 of the 2026 Dakar Rally, allowing the Qatari to overtake South African Henk Lategan in the overall standings.
Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa’s Joao Ferreira was quickest to the day’s first checkpoints, at 38 km and 78 km, with the Dacia Sandrider of Al-Attiyah right behind and followed by the Toyota Gazoo Racing W2RC Hiluxes of Lategan and Seth Quintero, while Michal Goczał’s Energylandia Hilux was ahead of Sébastien Loeb’s Dacia Sandrider.
Toby Price (Toyota Gazoo Racing W2RC) was ahead of Nani Roma (Ford Racing) by that point, with Mathieu Serradori’s Century Racing CR7 ahead of Mattias Ekström’s Ford Raptor. The order would change slightly by the next checkpoint as Roma worked his way through the field to within 2nd behind Ferreira.
It was Al-Attiyah who would take control for the majority of the day’s stage, leading at the 162 km and 186 km checkpoints ahead of the Toyotas of Quintero, Ferreira and Price, while Roma was fifth fastest by that point. More importantly, Al-Attiyah would go on to take the overall lead by 186 km in. Sébastien Loeb (Dacia Sandriders) also fought his way back to 3rd place and then 2nd fastest on the stage behind his teammate.
Quintero, Price and Ferreira completed the top five for Stage 6, while Roma and teammate Carlos Sainz were the fastest Fords, at 6th and 7th, respectively. South Africa’s Guy Botterill (Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa) was 8th and Eryck Goczał, 9th, while Serradori completed the top 10.
The Dakar field has a rest day in Riyadh tomorrow, before continuing the world’s toughest rally on 11 January, to Wadi ad Dawasir via a 414 km liaison and 462 km special.
Also read:
- 2026 Dakar Rally: Mitch Guthrie leads a Ford 1-2-3 on Stage 5
- Dakar 2026: Toyota’s Henk Lategan dominates Stage 4 to lead overall standings
- 2026 Dakar Rally: Ford’s Mitch Guthrie takes overall lead with Stage 3 win
- All the South Africans competing in the 2026 Dakar Rally
- 2026 Dakar Rally: Seth Quintero wins Stage 2 for Toyota Gazoo Racing WR2C
- 2026 Dakar Rally: Guillaume De Mévius Wins Stage 1 for X-Raid Team
- 2026 Dakar Rally: Mattias Ekström Wins Prologue for Ford
The article Dakar 2026: Nasser Al-Attiyah takes overall lead for Dacia with Stage 6 win appeared first on Car Magazine.
