Stage 3 delivered one of the toughest days of the rally so far with a long, grueling loop through shifting sands, rocky washes and tricky navigation that reshuffled both the bike and car leaderboards.
Tosha Schareina rode a powerful and consistent race to claim the stage victory, his first stage wins of Dakar 2026 and a huge morale boost for Honda, breaking KTM’s early dominance in the bike category. Ricky Brabec was second on the day, about 2 min 17 sec behind, with defending champion Daniel Sanders third. Sanders has the overall lead with on his tail.
In the car class, Mitch Guthrie Jr. scored his first Dakar stage win in the top class, driving a Ford Raptor and moving into the overall rally lead. Brock Heger leads the SSV standings for his second stage win of the rally.
