The 2026 Dakar Rally finishes with a surprise, historic ending
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing's Luciano Benevides did the nearly impossible and won the 2026 Dakar Rally 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.