Uploaded January 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing's Luciano Benevides did the (nearly) impossible and won the 2026 Dakar Rally coming from behind on the final day to take the victory by two seconds over Monster Energy Honda HRC Rally's Ricky Brabec.
Over 100km of final stage racing, Benevides didn't let up, taking advantage of a small navigation mistake in tricky terrain by Brabec to secure his first Dakar Victory, and the 21st for KTM by the slimmest margin ever seen.
Brabec, for the most part, rode the most flawless rally of the year, avoiding major navigation or terrain mistakes over two weeks and almost 8,000km of racing. But in the final 3km of today's final, Brabec made a wrong turn and it cost him the most valuable seconds of the race.
This is a stunning victory for Benevides and KTM - a historic one - proving that even when it's almost impossible to win, believing you can is the only way to victory.
Enjoy the show and we will see you at the next round of the World Rally Raid Championship from Portugal in March.
Buy us a coffee!
ko-fi.com/dakarrallydaily
Follow and communicate with us via Instagram: / dakar \_rally\_daily/
And leave comments on Cycle News YouTube coverage:
/ @cyclenews
Cycle News official race results coverage:
https://www.cyclenews.com/2026/01/art...
Visit our partners
KLIM
Rally Navigator
The Baja Rally
(more to come!)
Dakar Rally Daily is produced and edited by Jesse Ziegler, and hosted by Quinn Cody and Jesse Ziegler. #Dakar #Dakar2026
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing's Luciano Benevides did the (nearly) impossible and won the 2026 Dakar Rally coming from behind on the final day to take the victory by two seconds over Monster Energy Honda HRC Rally's Ricky Brabec.
Over 100km of final stage racing, Benevides didn't let up, taking advantage of a small navigation mistake in tricky terrain by Brabec to secure his first Dakar Victory, and the 21st for KTM by the slimmest margin ever seen.
Brabec, for the most part, rode the most flawless rally of the year, avoiding major navigation or terrain mistakes over two weeks and almost 8,000km of racing. But in the final 3km of today's final, Brabec made a wrong turn and it cost him the most valuable seconds of the race.
This is a stunning victory for Benevides and KTM - a historic one - proving that even when it's almost impossible to win, believing you can is the only way to victory.
Enjoy the show and we will see you at the next round of the World Rally Raid Championship from Portugal in March.
Buy us a coffee!
ko-fi.com/dakarrallydaily
Follow and communicate with us via Instagram: / dakar \_rally\_daily/
And leave comments on Cycle News YouTube coverage:
/ @cyclenews
Cycle News official race results coverage:
https://www.cyclenews.com/2026/01/art...
Visit our partners
KLIM
Rally Navigator
The Baja Rally
(more to come!)
Dakar Rally Daily is produced and edited by Jesse Ziegler, and hosted by Quinn Cody and Jesse Ziegler. #Dakar #Dakar2026
