South Africa’s Henk Lategan surged to the top of the Dakar Rally standings Wednesday, winning the fourth stage ahead of Qatar’s Nasser al-Attiyah as defending champion Yazeed al-Rajhi was forced to abandon his title defence with technical problems.
Lategan, last year’s overall runner-up, claimed his fifth career stage win in demanding conditions around Al Ula, finishing more than seven minutes clear of Al-Attiyah in the 452km special, the first half of a two-day marathon stage. The result lifted him into the overall lead by three minutes and 55 seconds over the five-time Dakar winner al-Attiyah.
Al-Rajhi’s title defence unravelled early in the stage as the Saudi struggled with his customer Toyota Hilux and eventually pulled out 234km in. He had already dropped to 19th overall before calling it a day. “Sadly, our Dakar 2026 journey ends here,” Al-Rajhi said. “We’ll come back stronger next year.”
He later explained that two punctures had cost him around half an hour and, with nearly half the stage remaining and no spare tyres left, he decided to withdraw. It capped a difficult year for al-Rajhi, who crashed in Jordan last April, breaking two vertebrae. He returned to competition only in September after months of recovery.
Lategan’s victory came after a punishing start to the rally, which he said had tested both strategy and patience. “Wednesday, we had a total of nine punctures. It’s unbelievable. I think that’s a record in three days. I was lost,” said the factory Toyota driver, who also missed his son’s sixth birthday.
“I didn’t know what to do on the rocks, whether to slow down or attack. Today I decided to forget all that and just go for it. It’s a lottery anyway.”
Al-Attiyah, now competing with the Dacia Sandriders team, finished second on the stage to climb from 10th overnight. "It wasn't easy for us. We had a puncture and then we saw Henk Lategan pass us, but he was attacking. We did a good job, we're here, and I think we didn't lose too much time,” he said. “It might even be good for our start position Friday. We didn't need to push any harder; we're still some way back. The car is in good condition and we're happy."
Ford’s Mattias Ekstrom held third place overall, with teammate and four-time Dakar winner Carlos Sainz fourth, nearly 16 minutes off the lead. Overnight leader Mitch Guthrie of the United States dropped to 13th.
In the motorcycle category, Spain’s Tosha Schareina took over the overall lead for Honda from Australia’s defending champion Daniel Sanders, who slipped to third on his KTM. American Ricky Brabec moved into second.
Schareina and Brabec led a Honda one-two-three on the stage, with American Skyler Howes third and Sanders fifth. “I made some silly mistakes in the navigation,” Sanders said. “After the refuel, I tried to push and make up time. I felt better in the last half. The bike’s okay. There were a lot of rocks and I tried to protect my tyres. We’ll see what happens Friday.”
