Paul Spierings secured his third Dakar victory in the Challenger category after a thrilling duel with Yasir Seaidan. The Dutchman snatched the win in the final phase from the Saudi, who had led all day. In the SSV class, Brock Heger claimed his fifth victory of the rally, ahead of teammate Xavier de Soultrait in a Polaris 1-2 finish. The 2026 Dakar still has no Saudi stage winner.
Seaidan seemed on track for the first Saudi home victory of this edition. He took the lead at kilometer 121 and held it deep into the final stretch. By kilometer 281, he had a 2:28 advantage over Spierings. But the Dutchman launched an impressive final offensive.
At kilometer 320, the gap was 1:25; at kilometer 356, it was 1:19; and by kilometer 386, it was back to 1:28. Spierings ultimately won by 2:50 over Seaidan and 3:22 over Kevin Benavides.
“Yasir Seaidan led the Challenger stage for most of the day, but Paul Spierings snatched the victory from him at the very last moment,” the organization reported. “The Dutchman secured his third win of the rally.”
Third win for Spierings
This is Spierings’ third victory after the prologue and Stage 9. He started at kilometer 46 with the same time as Benavides but had to relinquish the lead. By kilometer 121, Seaidan had a 42-second lead over Spierings and 2:21 over Benavides.
“Saudi Arabia fights for its first Saudi victory in Dakar 2026,” the organization wrote during the stage. By kilometer 196, Seaidan had extended his lead to 3:24 over Benavides. But Spierings fought back in the finale.
Nicolás Cavigliasso finished fourth, 4:02 behind, and Dania Akeel was fifth at 6:01 (including a 1:00 penalty). Akeel is still waiting for her first win of 2026.
Navarro retains lead despite penalty
Pau Navarro started 12 minutes late (at 9:15 instead of 9:03) and received a 12:00-minute time penalty. He finished tenth at 26:01 (including the penalty) but retains the overall lead.
Seaidan moves from third to second place and is now 18:30 behind Navarro. Lucas del Rio is third at 45:48, and Cavigliasso is fourth at 51:24. Puck Klaassen finished seventh at 9:33 and is fifth overall at 1:07:30.
Lex Peters finished 15th in 51:14 and Kees Koolen could only manage 17th place in 59:31. Pim Klaassen recorded the 19th time in 1:04:28 and Dick van Culenborg finished 24th in 1:26:30. Riné Streppel finished 27th in 2:16:32. Henri van Steenbergen was stuck for a long time with his buggy.
Heger wins after thrilling duel
In the SSV category, Brock Heger claimed his fifth Dakar win after a thrilling duel with teammate Xavier de Soultrait. De Soultrait took the lead at kilometer 196 with a 16-second advantage over Heger. By kilometer 239, his lead was 56 seconds, and he was still ahead at kilometer 281.
“Xavier de Soultrait thought he had the upper hand after leading at kilometers 239 and 281,” the organization reported. “That was before his teammate and defending champion Brock Heger struck back.”
At kilometer 320, Heger reclaimed the lead. By kilometers 356 and 386, he had about a one-minute advantage. He ultimately won by 1:15 over De Soultrait and 5:09 over Jeremías González Ferioli (including a 0:20 penalty).
Polaris 1-2
This is the second time this year Polaris has secured a 1-2 finish. Heger led at kilometer 46 by just six seconds over De Soultrait, at kilometer 91 by 13 seconds, and at kilometer 155 by 38 seconds. De Soultrait fought back in the middle section, but Heger dominated the finale.
“Chaleco” López finished fourth at 9:20, and Johan Kristoffersson was fifth at 14:25 (including a 33:10 penalty). Kyle Chaney finished sixth at 17:49.
Heger extends lead
Heger increased his overall lead to over an hour. He now leads Chaney by 1:01:47. De Soultrait capitalized on João Monteiro’s issues and moved up to third place at 1:20:54 (including a 2:00 penalty).
Monteiro faced technical problems and stopped during the stage. He finished twelfth at 1:28:39 (including a 0:10 penalty) and dropped out of the top three. López is fourth at 1:47:29 (including an 8:10 penalty), and Ferioli is fifth at 3:04:16 (including a 1:10 penalty).
There was a 23rd time for Richard Aczel and Wouter Rosegaar, they lost 2:10:49.
