Opening day for the 2026 Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia began with the much-anticipated prologue. The Rally began at Yanbu with a 41km liason before reaching the 22km timed prologue stage. Terrain included a loop with high speeds and rock-littered tracks. Stage 1 of the Rally will begin from Yanbu early Sunday morning. Terrain will include sandy dunes and plenty of rocky terrain. It finishes fifteen days later along the Red Sea.
Ricky Brabec has won the Rally twice and is looking for a third overall win. Brabec finished Saturday’s Prologue in third place putting the Honda HRC team on the map. Skyler Howes is also riding for the Honda HRC team. Howes finished eighth in the Prologue. Spain’s Edgar Canet won the day for the KTM Factory Racing team.
Seth Quintero is also at the Dakar Rally competing with the Toyota Gazoo racing team. “I feel confident, motivated and ready to race. I have a different feeling just because of the work TGR W2RC has put into the car and into me. I’m very excited to get behind the wheel of the new DKR GR Hilux and explore new possibilities. I’ve already seen the speed from testing, and it is confidence inspiring. We’ve got an amazing team with amazing team-mates. I’m sure we’ll be fighting with each other at the front, but we are good friends, so it’s going to be fun,” said Quintero. Quintero will race across 5,000 miles of Saudi Arabia’s most grueling terrain.
