Good news! Dacia has won the Dakar Rally

Good news! The Dacia Sandero – whoops, sorry – the Dacia Sandrider has powered to victory after two gruelling weeks of the 2026 Dakar Rally, with race legend Nasser Al-Attiyah claiming a sixth overall win.

After 49 hours of sand, sand and yet more sand, the top four finishers were separated by just fifteen minutes, although Al-Attiyah and co-driver Fabian Lurquin established a decisive advantage at the top of the leaderboard three stages out from the finish line.

The Ford Raptors of Nani Roma and Mattias Ekstrom closed out the rest of the podium, with three-time runner-up Sebastien Loeb narrowly beaten into fourth.

Carlos Sainz Snr came home fifth, less than half an hour back from the winning Dacia and having been hit by a 15-minute time penalty for missing a waypoint earlier on in the rally: after Stage nine, the four-time winner had been less than a minute off the lead. Ooft.

“To win this Dakar with our team, the Dacia Sandriders, it was amazing,” said Al-Attiyah. “Really I am so happy to win the Dakar six times in my career. Thanks to Fabian, and I was so pleased to help him because he deserved to win the Dakar for the first time.

“The last stage was really very tricky because there are a lot of things in the mind. But we did a good job, we take it easy, let two cars pass and followed all the way. I feel really great.”

Lurquin added: “It's unreal. I've been dreaming of this one for 22 years and working on it for 22 years. My entire family [has been] in racing forever, so I [get to] bring a nice trophy home.

“On the Dakar I had the chance to go on the podium three times but never on the first one. I would exchange 10 times the second place with the first one.”

Meanwhile Dacia – which announced its plans to enter the Dakar with the help of Prodive back in 2023 – has earned itself one of motorsport’s most recognisable prizes and one that many carmakers would give their front-right suspension arms for.

What can we expect now? Dakar versions of the Duster, Bigster, Jogger and Spring? Yes please.