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A Factory Ford driver, Mattias Ekstrom, secured an early advantage in the 2026 Dakar Rally, narrowly surpassing his teammate Mitch Guthrie during Saturday’s Prologue.

The 48th iteration of the Dakar rally officially began on 3 January, with 72 cars participating in the Ultimate class. The Prologue included a 95km route near the Saudi Arabian port city of Yanbu, but only 22km were timed, leading to very small differences at the front of the competition.

Piloting the V8-equipped Ford Raptor, two-time DTM champion Ekstrom recorded the quickest time of the day, crossing the finish line in 10 minutes and 48.7 seconds. This marked his third Prologue win in five participations, following his earlier successes with Audi in 2023 and 2024.

Guthrie came in eight seconds after Ekstrom in second place, securing a 1-2 finish for Ford as the American brand achieves its second factory participation in the Dakar.

X-raid driver Guillaume de Mevius came in just two tenths behind Guthrie in third place, making Mini a strong competitor to Ford in the Prologue. De Mevius was once more teamed up with a four-time Dakar-winning co-driver.Mathieu Baumel, who has made a comeback to competitive sports following the loss of his right leg in an accident in January of last year.

Dakar star Nasser Al-AttiyahGuided the path for Renault Group’s Dacia brand in fourth place, trailing De Mevius by another three tenths.

Fifth position was claimed by factory Toyota driver Seth Quintero, along with the defending championYazeed Al-Rajhitracking him closely from behind in sixth place on his Overdrive-run Hilux.

Eryk Goczal unexpectedly finished seventh in EnergyLand’s customer Toyota, matching Quintero and Al-Rajhi’s times precisely.

Rally legend Carlos Sainz Srreturned to Dakar on Tuesday after leaving the 2025 competition early, steering his Ford to an eighth position finish, 15 seconds behind his teammate Ekstrom.

Matthieu Serradori finished in ninth place for the underdog Century brand, with Toyota South Africa’s Saood Variawa completing the top 10.

Nine-time World Rally champion Sebastien Loeb began his Dakar journey with a modest performance, finishing 17th, over half a minute behind the leader. He was closely followed by his teammateLucas Moraes, who has joined Dacia this year following his victory in the 2025 World Rally-Raid Championship with Toyota.

In contrast to the bike category, times recorded in the Prologue will not be included in the overall standings. Nevertheless, the top 10 drivers on Saturday will have the opportunity to select their starting positions for Sunday’s first official stage in Yanbu.

Prologue Outcomes – Leading 10:

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