South African crews made a strong showing on the second day of the 2026 Dakar Rally as Toyota Gazoo Racing Hiluxes utterly dominated proceedings in the car category.
Hilux clean sweep in tough conditions
American Seth Quintero and Andrew Short led an Overdrive Racing 1-2-3 finish on Monday’s challenging 400-kilometre stage, ahead of South Africans Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings and Australian former bike winner Toby Price with Armand Monleon.
The Toyota dominance was completed by 2025 winners Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk, and SVR crew João Ferreira and Filipe Palmeiro, making it an all-Toyota top five. Eight Toyotas secured positions in the top 12, with young South African champion Saood Variawa and Frenchman François Cazalet finishing ninth.
The day proved particularly challenging as organisers inserted a service point along the route, signalling tough conditions ahead. Competitors tackled rocky tracks across the Hedjaz Mountains before fast, sandy broad plains, with a sting in the tail featuring small dunes into Al-Ula.
Despite the strong showing from Toyota crews, Qatari Nasser Al Attiyah took the overall lead for Dacia, albeit by just six seconds over Quintero.
Other South African crews in action included Century Factory CR-7 duo Brian Baragwanath and Leonard Cremer, whilst Guy Botterill’s SVR Hilux lost significant time due to a puncture.
KTM maintains bike supremacy
In the motorcycle category, Austria’s KTM continued their remarkable dominance with 2025 winner Daniel Sanders taking control of the race. Sanders relieved rookie teammate Edgar Canet of the overall lead, maintaining KTM’s unbeaten record so far this year.
South African riders showed promising form, with Michael Docherty leading the Rally 2 category on his BAS KTM. Motswana-based Ross Branch finished seventh overall on his Hero Moto 450, whilst Durban’s Bradley Cox secured 13th place on his Sherco Factory Rally machine.
Martim Ventura claimed Honda’s first-ever Rally 2 victory, though Michael Docherty picked up the category win after Ventura received a penalty, extending Docherty’s winning streak to three consecutive Rally 2 victories.
Sanders now leads the overall motorcycle standings by 30 seconds from teammate Canet, with Docherty maintaining his Rally 2 lead by just 19 seconds.
Tuesday’s Day 3 comprises a 422-kilometre loop around Al-Ula, promising more challenging terrain for the international field.
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