Summarize

Toyota Gazoo Racing Hiluxes utterly dominated Monday’s second day of the 2026 Dakar Rally. American Seth Quintero and Andrew Short led an Overdrive Racing 1-2-3 over South Africans Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings and Australian former bike winner Toby Price and Armand Monleon. For good measure, 2025 winners, home hero Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk and SVR crew João Ferreira and Filipe Palmeiro make it an all-Toyota top five. Qatari Nasser Al Attiyah meantime took the overall lead for Dacia, albeit by just seconds over Quinteiro.

When Dakar organisers insert a service point along the route, competitors can expect the going to really be tough. And Tuesday did not disappoint over the rocky tracks across the Hedjaz Mountains before tackling the fast and sandy broad plains. And then a sting in the tail with a few small dunes into Al-Ula. Ferreira and Palmeiro sounded the early Toyota warning as the SVR crew led Sebastien Loeb and Al Attiyah’s Dacias and young South African champion Saood Variawa and Frenchman Francois Cazalet’s SVR Gazoo Hilux through the opening waypoint. 

That became a Toyota 1-2-3-4 by the next point as Variawa led Overdrive Hilux crews, Quintero and Al-Rajhi’s similar machines. It soon became a Toyota 1-2-3-4-5 and then the top six, as Quintero led Al Rajhi, Variawa, South African Overdrive duo, Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings, Aussie former bike winner Toby Price and Armand Monleon, and Ferreira and Palmeiro. The focus was by then an inter-Toyota team fight as the European-based Overdrive cars battled the South African SVR versions. With Al Rajhi in the thick of it for good measure. 

The status ebbed and flowed as the six Toyota crews led into the final sector. Quinteiro headed Lategan, Al Rajhi, Ferreira and Price as Variawa slipped back. Price however leapfrogged Ferreira and Al Rajhi to make it a splendid Overdrive 1-2-3 and a Gazoo Toyota Hilux top five. Best of the rest, Simon Vitse and Max Delfino’s SMD buggy was sixth from Dacia duo Loeb and Al Attiyah in seventh and eighth. Three more Toyotas, a disappointed Variawa in between Polish brothers Goczal, Marek and Eryc, rounded off a resounding eight-Toyota rout in the top eleven.

Sunday winners, Belgian Mini men Guillaume de Mevius and Mathieu Baumel’s were twelfth from the best of the literal army of Ford Raptors, Mattias Ekstrom in an unlucky 13th despite stopping with an issue early on. South African Century Factory CR-7 crews, Frenchmen Mathieu Serradori and Loïc Minaudier and SA duo Brian Baragwanath and Leonard Cremer followed ahead of a line of Raptors and Dacias straddling the top 20 mark. Another South African, Guy Botterill’s SVR Hilux lost half an hour to a puncture.

That has significantly shaken up the overall Dakar 2026 Car order. Ever consistent Al Attiyah’s Dacia now leads, but by just six seconds from Seth Quinteiro’s Toyota, De Mevius in the Mini and the resurgent Lategan. Loeb in fifth remains within two minutes of the lead from Ferreira, Price, Ekstrom, Variawa and Carlos Sainz’ Ford Raptor.

Further back, Mr. Dakar, Stéphane Peterhansel was enjoying a better day ahead of the Stock class pack in his Defender, from virtual class leading teammate Rokas Baciuska and Ronald Basso’s Toyota Land Cruiser. Chilean Taurus driver Lucas Del Rio surprised to lead the T3 Challengers from local hero Yasir Seidan’s similar machine and virtual overall leader Pau Navarro’s Odyssey. Xavier de Soultrait was once again in charge of the T4 Side by Sides in his Polaris from Chaleco Lopez’s Can Am and Goncalo Guerrero’s Polaris. And Martin Macic’s MMT led Vaidotas Zala’s Iveco and overall leader Mitchell van der Brink’s MMT in the Trucks.

Tuesday’s Dakar Day 3 comprises a 422 kilometre loop around Al-Ula. Your Dakar Car Report is powered by Toyota Gazoo Racing. Click here for the Dakar Bike report.