Paul Spierings secured his second Dakar win in the Challenger category after an exciting duel with Kevin Benavides. In the SSV class, “Chaleco” López won his first stage after the most chaotic race so far, featuring six different leaders. Nicolás Cavigliasso lost significant time due to radiator issues and dropped out of the top three in the standings.
Spierings dominated the Challenger stage for a long time but faced pressure from Dania Akeel. The Saudi driver took the lead at kilometer 186 with a 15-second advantage, but Spierings fought back. By kilometer 309, he was leading again, this time by 58 seconds over Benavides. He ultimately won with a 1:20 margin over the Argentinian.
“Paul Spierings confirmed his superiority today. The Dutchman won the stage for his second success in this edition, following his prologue victory,” the organization reported.
Second win for Spierings
For Spierings, this is his second victory after the prologue. He led at kilometer 41 (tied with Akeel and Klaassen), kilometer 78, 115, and 147. At kilometer 186, he lost the lead to Akeel but fought back in the second half of the stage.
David Zille finished third at 6:34, and Puck Klaassen came in fourth at 7:13. Klaassen opted for a tactical and safe approach on the marathon stage after her victory yesterday. She is fifth in the standings, 1:23:58 behind.
Cavigliasso loses time due to radiator problems
Nicolás Cavigliasso had a dramatic day. The Argentinian stopped at kilometer 53 with a broken radiator. His teammate Oscar Ral helped him with repairs, which took about 20 minutes. He is still on the move but loses nearly an hour and drops from second to fourth place in the standings.
“Nicolás Cavigliasso stopped after 53 kilometers. This could be a turning point in the race for victory in the Challenger class, as the Argentinian was second behind Pau Navarro,” the organization stated.
Navarro extends his lead
Pau Navarro capitalized on Cavigliasso’s misfortune and extended his lead in the standings. He maintains the lead with a 41:41 advantage over Yasir Seaidan. Lucas del Rio is third at 57:34, and Zille is fourth at 1:06:57.
Akeel remains without a win
Dania Akeel experienced another disappointing finish. She led at kilometer 186 but fell back and finished fourteenth at 54:21. This is her fifth podium finish this year, but she is still waiting for her first win of 2026.
The Dutch
Spierings won the stage and moved up to tenth place in the general classification, gaining two places. Puck Klaassen finished fourth and remains sixth overall. Kees Koolen recorded the seventh fastest time at 22:41 and is 13th overall. Lex Peters finished 18th at 54:02 and is also 18th overall. Pim Klaassen finished 21st at 1:00:29 behind, Dick van Culenborg finished 23rd at 1:05:29, and Riné Streppel finished 29th at 1:41:01. Henri van Steenbergen finished 32nd at 2:16:14.
López wins after six different leaders
In the SSV category, it was the most chaotic stage so far, with six different leaders: Brock Heger at kilometer 41, Johan Kristoffersson at kilometer 78, 115, and 147, Jeremías Ferioli at kilometer 186, Heger again at kilometer 222, and Alexandre Pinto at kilometer 309.
“Stage 9 is the most fiercely contested since the start of the rally in the SSV category,” the organization reported at kilometer 222.
Pinto led at kilometer 309 with just ten seconds over Kristoffersson and 27 seconds over Hunter Miller, but then stopped. López took advantage and secured his first win, finishing 33 seconds ahead of Kristoffersson and 3:50 ahead of Miller.
Kristoffersson learns quickly
Johan Kristoffersson achieved his best SSV result with a second-place finish. The eight-time rallycross world champion is racing his first Dakar and making rapid progress. “Motorsport fans know Kristoffersson is a talented driver, and the rally-raid community is discovering this for themselves,” the organization noted.
Kyle Chaney finished fourth at 4:23, and Xavier de Soultrait fifth at 6:20. De Soultrait is making a comeback after his crash with Bruno Saby yesterday.
Heger maintains a comfortable lead
Brock Heger had a tough day and finished sixth at 11:42 but maintains a comfortable lead in the standings. He leads by 44:08 over Chaney. João Monteiro drops from second to third place at 1:02:16 (including a 0:30 penalty) after a disappointing tenth-place finish at 26:49.
De Soultrait is fourth at 1:19:49 (including a 2:00 penalty), and López climbs to fifth place at 1:38:19 (including an 8:10 penalty).
Richard Aczel finished 20th today in 51:55. Together with his Dutch navigator Wouter Rosegaar, the Briton is 14th overall, 6.5 hours behind.
The marathon stage caused spectacular twists in both categories. Tonight, the competitors will sleep in a small bivouac in the middle of the desert without contact with their teams. Tomorrow, the second part of the marathon to Bisha follows.
