Summarize

Motswana 2024 World Champion and former multiple South African Cross Country Champion, Tork Craft rider, Ross Branch has dominated the first official Bike stage of Dakar 2026 aboard his Hero Moto 450 Rally, only to be docked six minutes for speeding and drop to seventh. South African Michael Docherty however made no mistakes to win the amateur Rally 2 class on his BAS KTM 450, but he had to work for it against Portuguese Honda Factory rookie sensation Martim Ventura.

While Branch was more or less kept on his toes by Factory KTM 450 Rally duo, Spanish rookie Édgar Canet and 2025 Dakar winner and World Champion Aussie Daniel Sanders, he was never really under pressure after moving ahead around 100 kilometres into Sunday’s 302 km loop around Yanbu. Canet overhauled his experienced teammate later in the day to claim second, 1 minute 21 seconds behind Branch, which later turned into the stage win on Branch's penalty.

Behind them, Honda Factory CRF450 duo, Californian Ricky Brabec and Spanish rider Tosha Schareina Honda followed in fourth and fifth from Argentine Luciano Benavides’ factory KTM, the penalised Branch, Chilean Hero Moto rider Ignacio Cornejo, French Honda rider Adrien van Beveren. Rally 2 leaders Docherty and Ventura came home ninth and eleventh, each side of Skyler Howes’ Rally GP Honda. 

Slovak KTM privateer Stefan Svitko followed in twelfth from Czech Martin Michek’s Hoto Factory 450 Rally and Factory Sherco duo, Durban lad Bradley Cox and Spaniard Lorenzo Santolino. Uruguayan Emanuel Gyenes was the leading no-service Original rider, provisionally 24th on his KTM, and still running at the time of writing, South African Ronald Venter sat 88th on his KTM. 

Overall, Canet leads Sanders by a minute and five seconds with Brabec third from Schareina, Benavides, Cornejo, Branch and van Beveren. Rally 2 leader Docherty is ninth overall from Howes and Rally 2 lad Ventura. Dakar now moves onto Stage 2 for a 400 km run from Yanbu to Al-Ula on Monday.

Your Dakar Bike Report is powered by Tork Craft tools. Read the Dakar Car Day report here.