In 2015, Nani Roma claimed his last stage win in the Dakar Rally. Ten years later, the Spaniard achieved another victory, securing the first-ever stage win for Ford M-Sport. In the dunes of the Empty Quarter, Roma was 18 seconds faster than Lucas Moraes and 1 minute and 40 seconds ahead of Dania Akeel in her Challenger.
Before the stage, Yazeed Al Rajhi claimed that his home terrain in the Empty Quarter would be easy. However, starting third, he could only manage the 27th time in his Toyota, finishing over 18 minutes behind Roma. Nasser Al-Attiyah also lost significant time, finishing 30th, while Mattias Ekström placed 25th.
This allowed Henk Lategan, who was frustrated by his 11th-place finish yesterday, to make significant gains in the standings. By finishing 11th again today, he regained time and reclaimed the overall lead. The South African now leads by 2 minutes and 27 seconds after the tenth stage, with Ekström trailing by 26 minutes and Al-Attiyah by 30 minutes.

In the Ultimate category, Roma took the win, followed by Moraes. Brian Baragwanath claimed third in his Century, with Daniel Schröder achieving a surprising fourth in his Volkswagen. Fifth place went to Juan Cruz Yacopini. Another notable performance came from Aliyyah Koloc, the 21-year-old from Dubai, who finished ninth, demonstrating her speed in her favorite terrain—the dunes.
Among the Dutch competitors, Tim Coronel was the fastest, finishing 29th and even outpacing Al-Attiyah. Maik Willems placed 33rd, a solid improvement from his 42nd place yesterday. Rik van den Brink, experiencing the Empty Quarter for the first time, finished 40th. Dave Klaassen and Ronald van Loon followed in 43rd and 44th, respectively, with Stefan Carmans finishing 48th.
Challengers
It’s no secret that the small and agile Challengers are quick, but Dania Akeel’s top-three time among the cars was a surprise. The Saudi driver claimed her first stage win in the Dakar Rally. Pau Navarro took second, 3 minutes behind, with Gonzalo Guerreiro in third.

The biggest shake-up in the standings came with the forced retirement of Paul Spierings, who had to park his car en route to the stage. Nicolas Cavigliasso remained the leader, 26 minutes ahead of Guerreiro. Navarro moved up to third, 1 hour and 42 minutes behind.
After a dusty day stuck behind a truck, Puck Klaassen was back in the mix, finishing 9th and climbing to 8th overall. Gert-Jan van der Valk, seeming comfortable in the dunes, finished 16th. Lex Peters took 30th, and Richard Aczel finished 31st. Marinus Streppel is stranded in the dunes, with the cause unknown.
SSVs
Francesco Lopez Contardo claimed his fifth stage win of this Dakar Rally. Driving his Can-Am, he was 25 seconds faster than Jeremias Gonzalez Ferioli and 1 minute and 25 seconds ahead of Sara Price, resulting in an all-Can-Am podium.
Brock Heger finished fourth, just 1:26 behind, tied with Xavier de Soultrait in fifth.

In the overall standings, Heger maintained his comfortable lead of 1 hour and 49 minutes over De Soultrait. Lopez Contardo remains third, trailing by 2 hours and 6 minutes.
Among the Dutch competitors, Sander Derikx was the fastest, finishing 25th and losing about 43 minutes to the stage winner. Roger Grouwels came 27th and retained his 9th position overall.