Stage Nine win for Schareina as Sanders extends lead

2026 Dakar Rally

Stage Nine – Wadi Ad Dawasir to Bisha (Marathon)

Stage Nine of the 2026 Dakar Rally proved one to remember for Tosha Schareina, claiming his third stage win of this running, and his career fifth win, with a strong finish towards the end of the special that saw him outpace Daniel Sanders and Michael Docherty.

Tosha Schareina

Tosha Schareina

“It was good for me, the navigation early in the morning, my strategy changed here, I tried to take all the checkpoints possible from that moment, it was so dusty, the last point was completely straight and wide open, it’s difficult to fight with the guys when it’s totally straight. In the dunes I did my best, but all the riders were riding together. I’ll check [my bike] now but during the stage it was perfect.”

Sanders was the big winner in the overall standings however, with teammate Luciano Benavides plummeting down the rankings to third, now trailing the Australian by 7m05s, while Ricky Brabec is 6m24s off the leader in second.

That gives Sanders a little – but not much – breathing room, considering he went into stage nine separated from Benavides by just 10-seconds, as well as extending his lead on Brabec by 1m37s.

Daniel Sanders

Daniel Sanders

“Just right at the beginning I checked the road book quickly, and it was like, ‘Man, there’s going to be some chaos here.’ It was a different rhythm change, in a new area we’ve never raced before, so it was really nice and cool. It was just a tricky note and we missed it, Luciano was there, I was in the dust there when he got lost, bit of chaos, then Ricky arrived, so bang that was six-minutes there. Then a couple of minutes down the track Tosha arrived. So everyone was trying to make a strategy for tomorrow as there’s more sand dunes, but in the end I think we have to keep cruising.

“I changed my mind a few times throughout the day, but whatever the result was today and the start position tomorrow, we’ll make the best of it. Happy to get here, the rest of [the stage] it was pretty basic, the last part was fast, the dunes had a lot of camel grass. Looking forward to tomorrow. I took it easy in the rocks, made sure I didn’t cut it, so I can go full gas tomorrow. We’ve got a few thorns to pull out today, but pretty happy with how I rode. Let’s get into tomorrow”

Schareina’s success came from picking the right canyon during navigation, where his competitors made the wrong choice, while keeping the pace up towards the end of the stage. The result also moved him to fourth, 15m18s off the overall leader, including his 10-min penalty from the previous marathon.

Brabec played it safe with a fourth-placed finish for the stage, 6m22s off the lead, followed by Honda HRC teammate Skyler Howes (+7m54s) and Adrien Van Beveren (+10m10s). Howes sits fifth but 44m15s off pace, Adrien Van Beveren is then 1h08m38s off the lead in seventh, behind Hero’s Cornejo (+1h05m10s).

Neels Theric brought his Kove Factory Racing machine home in seventh (+10m50s), with Bradley Cox eighth for Sherco (+11m10s), with Luciano Benavides not far behind (11m50s). Preston Campbell rounding out the top-10 for the stage, just over 17-minutes off pace.

Michael Docherty won the special in the Rally 2 class, claiming his sixth victory on the 2026 edition, six minutes ahead of Neels Theric, the South African performing well against the Rally GP riders, finishing third for the day. This is the best result for a Rally 2 rider so far this year.

Preston Campbell remains at the top of the overall rankings ahead of Toni Mulec, but we’re waiting to confirm that Ruy Barbosa is the new third-placed rider, pending other riders finishing.

Toby Price also had a good day, claiming his first podium finish in the Ultimate class, 11m36s off the leader, and holding off Baragwanath by just 22-seconds.

Next: Stage 10

Stage 10 continues the marathon with a 371 km special and 46 km liason, looping Bisha.

2026 Dakar Rally Stage Nine Results

1. T. SCHAREINA 3h45m42
2. D. SANDERS +4m35
3. M. DOCHERTY +4m50
4. R. BRABEC +6m22
5. S. HOWES +7m54
6. A. VAN BEVEREN +10m10
7. N. THERIC +10m50
8. B. COX +11m10
9. L. BENAVIDES +11m50
10. P. CAMPBELL +17m16

2026 Dakar Rally Standings after Stage Nine

1. D. SANDERS 37h09m17
2. R. BRABEC +6m24
3. L. BENAVIDES +7m05
4. T. SCHAREINA +15m28
5. S. HOWES +44m15
6. I. CORNEJO +1h05m10
7. A. VAN BEVEREN +1h08m38
8. R. BRANCH +2h10m19
9. P. CAMPBELL +2h13m59
10. T. MULEC +2h31m27

2026 Dakar Rally Route/Schedule

2026 Dakar Rally route

2026 Dakar Rally Route/Schedule