Summarize

KTM tightened its grip on the Dakar 2026 Bike race when Argentine Luciano Benavides dominated Sundays' seventh stage and the first day of the second week. Defending champion and Benavides’ teammate, Daniel ‘Chucky’ Sanders put in an epic ride to come in third and treble his overall lead margin. 

South African Michael Docherty may be out of the overall chase, but he scored his fifth Rally 2 win of the race in sixth on the day. Motswana Ross Branch was back on form in seventh on the day to ride eighth overall, one place behind Durban lad Bradley Cox on his Sherco.

Sunday’s 877 km trek included 459 competitive kilometres to Wadi ad-Dawasir in the Arabian Desert following the rest day on Sunday. With mainly fast and sandy tracks and a third of the distance over dunes, a varied day faced the field as Honda Factory CRF450 duo Californian Ricky Brabec and Spaniard Tosha Schareina and defending champion, Sanders’ KTM set off at the head of the remaining 99 of 115 Bike starters.

Affected by running up front on the road, Schareina was 14th, Brabec 19th and Sanders 21st through the first control. Benavides led the way from Portuguese Rally 2 leader, rookie Martim Ventura’s Factory Honda, Botswana Tork Craft rider Ross Branch on his Hero Moto 450 Rally, Frenchman Adrien van Beveren’s Factory Honda and Chilean Ignacio Cornejo’s second Factory Hero Moto.

It was all change behind Benavides 100 km later, with van Beveren up to second from a fast recovering Sanders, Branch, Cornejo and South African Michael Docherty, who popped up as the Rally 2 leader with compatriot Bradley Cox’ Sherco on the fringes of the top ten. First on the road, Brabec languished in 16th as Benavides made off up front, leaving Sanders and van Beveren scrapping for second with Branch, Docherty and Cornejo in chase.

Benavides duly scored his second stage win of the race with van Beveren second from Sanders, who did well to minimise the effect of opening the road. Behind them, Edgar Canet was fourth on the third Factory KTM from US rider Skyler Howes’ Honda, Rally 2 winner Docherty, Ross Branch, Schareina and Cornejo. 

Further back, Ricky Brabec lost nine minutes opening the road en route to a provisional tenth as he slipped three minutes to 4m 25 seconds behind overall leader Daniel Sanders with Luciano Benavides now just fifteen seconds adrift in third. Ignacio Cornejo sits fourth from Adrien van Beveren, fifteenth on the day, Durban lad Bradley Cox’s Sherco, Ross Branch and new Rally 2 leader, Slovenian Toni Mulec’s KTM in tenth, while Spaniard Josep Pedrero’s Husqvarna continued to lead no-service Original class.

Monday brings the longest special of Dakar 2025 in a 481 km loop around Wadi ad-Dawasir Your Dakar Bike Report is powered by Tork Craft tools. Click here for today’s Dakar Car Report.