- The results are in! The Dacia Sandriders has won the 48th Dakar Rally, the toughest test in motorsport
- Driver, Nasser Al-Attiyah, and navigator, Fabian Lurquin, claim a memorable and highly impressive victory by almost 10 minutes
- Dacia’s famed expertise of designing and building robust and outdoor ready vehicles has been recognised once again as it wins in only its second participation on the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship event
The Dacia Sandriders has won the 48th Dakar Rally, the toughest test of car and crew in international motorsport, with Nasser Al-Attiyah and Fabian Lurquin claiming a memorable and highly impressive victory by almost 10 minutes.
An outstanding achievement in only its second participation on the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship event, Dacia’s famed expertise of designing and building robust and outdoor ready vehicles has been recognised once again.
The Dacia Sandriders had further reason to celebrate as its other three crews all reached the finish this afternoon.
Sébastien Loeb and Édouard Boulanger returned to the final bivouac on the banks of the Red Sea in fourth position, as Lucas Moraes and Dennis Zenz completed their first Dakar Rally with the team in seventh place. Cristina Gutiérrez and Pablo Moreno took 11th overall, having started the final stage in 12th.
During 13 days of intense and gruelling competition over a total distance of 7,976 kilometres, including 4,809 against the clock, The Dacia Sandriders claimed two stage victories and only slipped outside the top three overall positions on one occasion.
Its success on the hugely challenging Saudi Arabian stages – a mix of undulating rock-strewn tracks, sand dunes, fast open sections and more – was not only down to the performance of its drivers and navigators. The Dacia designed Sandrider, alongside the hard work, dedication, and unwavering commitment of all of its team members, partners and suppliers played a key role.
Katrin Adt, Dacia CEO, said: “We did it! What an achievement, what an adventure, what a performance! Today is a historic moment and the proudest moment for the whole Dacia brand. It is the result of so much hard work by so many talented people, and it shows that The Dacia Sandrider, like our road cars, is reliable and robust.
“All the team members deserve this result, and they should be so incredibly proud for what they have done, achieving victory so early on in Dacia’s Dakar journey.”
HOW THE FINAL DAY OF THE DAKAR UNFOLDED
After their stage-winning heroics on Friday’s penultimate run, a performance that put them within touching distance of victory, Nasser Al-Attiyah and Fabian Lurquin took a lead of 16m02s into the final stage of the 2026 Dakar Rally, a 105-kilometre timed loop around Yanbu, where the event got under way with the Prologue on 3 January.
Featuring gravel tracks through a mountainous landscape, on which careful cornering was highlighted by the organisers as being essential, Al-Attiyah and Lurquin drove with utmost caution to ensure victory by 9m42s after going 36th quickest.
But it was a different story for Sébastien Loeb and Édouard Boulanger. Starting Stage 13 a mere 29s adrift of the podium, the Frenchmen knew they would have to give their all to snatch third place. Despite their best efforts, they missed the Stage 13 win by eight seconds and ultimately came up short of what would have been Loeb’s sixth Dakar podium by a slender margin of 37s. But having suffered several time-consuming delays during the event, fourth place was fitting reward for their tireless endeavour.
Defending world champion Lucas Moraes, for whom the Dakar Rally was his first event for The Dacia Sandriders and his first alongside navigator Dennis Zenz, was 18s adrift of sixth place starting Stage 13. After registering the 16th quickest time once a one-minute speeding penalty was added, they secured seventh in the final order, 1m48s down on sixth.
Cristina Gutiérrez and Pablo Moreno moved up from 12th to 11th in the overall ranking after they recorded the 10th best time on the deciding stage of the event.
AL-ATTIYAH MAKES IT SIX AS LURQUIN CLAIMS MAIDEN VICTORY
Nasser Al-Attiyah has now won the Dakar Rally on six occasions, including three times in Saudi Arabia – its home since 2020 – his previous triumphs coming in 2011, 2015, 2019, 2022 and 2023.
For Fabian Lurquin, the victory was his first on the event and the first in the car category by a Belgian navigator. Lurquin had three Dakar Rally podiums on his CV prior to this year’s contest, having finished second in 2022 and 2025 and third in 2024.
KEY QUOTES
Tiphanie Isnard, Team Principal, The Dacia Sandriders said: “We win the Dakar after the first full season of competing, so it’s a wonderful result. Congratulations to everyone who made this incredible victory possible, especially to Nasser and Fabian who performed so well from start to finish. The perfect performance. This victory was the result of outstanding teamwork and commitment for which I am so very proud. Hours and hours have been dedicated to this programme, so it’s just a big thanks to all the team. To have all our four cars finishing inside the top eleven is really impressive and testament to the efforts of our brilliant team.
“Victory is never something easy but when you work hard, and you are passionate, dreams can come true.”
Nasser Al-Attiyah, Driver, The Dacia Sandriders added: “To win this Dakar with our team, The Dacia Sandriders, is amazing. Really, I am so happy to win the Dakar six times in my career. Thanks to Fabian, I was so pleased to help him also, because he deserved to win the Dakar for the first time. The last stage was really very tricky because there are a lot of things in the mind. But we did a good job, we took it easy, let two case pass and followed all the way. I feel really great.”
Fabian Lurquin, Navigator, continued: “I have been dreaming of this for 22 years and working on it for 22 years. My entire family is in racing forever, so I bring a nice trophy home. I am somehow proud but very happy that I make a lot of people happy who support me. On the Dakar, I had the chance to go on the podium three times, but never on top. I would exchange 10 times the second place with the first one.”
DAKAR RALLY 2026 PROVISIONAL ULTIMATE CATEGORY OVERALL RESULTS AFTER STAGE 13 (UNOFFICIAL)
1st: Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT) / Fabian Lurquin (BEL), 48h56m53s
4th: Sébastien Loeb (FRA) / Édouard Boulanger (FRA), +15m10s
7th: Lucas Moreas (BRA) / Dennis Zenz (GER), +47m50s
11th: Cristina Gutiérrez (ESP) / Pablo Moreno (ESP), +1h29m49s
DAKAR RALLY 2026: THE BIG NUMBERS
6: Nasser Al-Attiyah has now won the Dakar Rally six times
1: Victory on the 48th Dakar Rally was the first for navigator Fabian Lurquin
4: The Dacia Sandriders becomes a four-time winning in the World Rally-Raid Championship
11: All four The Dacia Sandriders’ crews finished in the top eleven overall
50: Al-Attiyah completed the event by equalling the Dakar Rally stage-win record of fifty stage wins
7,976: The Dacia Sandriders’ crews each covered a total distance of 7,976 kilometres, including 4,809 against the clock