Portuguese driver João Ferreira (Toyota Hilux) ranked 12th in the prologue of the 48th edition of the Dakar rally, finishing 19 seconds behind Swedish leader Mathias Ekstrom. On motorcycles, Martim Ventura was the best Portuguese in 21st, in his debut year. The first stage takes place on Sunday, starting and finishing in Yanbu.
Portuguese driver João Ferrreira (Toyota Hilux) was 12th in the prologue of the 48th edition of the off-road Dakar rally, this Saturday, which runs until January 17th in Saudi Arabia.
The driver from Leiria completed the 22 kilometers timed with the 11.07.9 minutes19 seconds behind the fastest, the Swedish Mathias Ekstrom (Ford Raptor).
The North American Mitch Guthrie (Ford Raptor) finished in second place, eight seconds behind his teammate, with the Belgian William of Mévius (Mini) in third, also eight seconds behind.
“The prologue brought exactly what I anticipated before the race: the competitive level is very high. There are several drivers with the capacity to lead and there will be no room for any inattention”, said the Portuguese driver.
João Ferreira, who seeks in this edition improve the eighth position achieved in 2025considered that “it was a short and clean stage”in which the car was at the level he would like: “More than the times, the prologue serves to understand if we are at the right pace”, said João Ferreira, who is competing in this race for the fourth time.
The French Sébastien Loeb (Dacia Sandrider) already lost 34 seconds when he found himself caught in the dust of the South African Henk Lategan (Toyota Hilux), another candidate for victory, which punctured and lost 1.38 minutes.
This Saturday’s prologue does not count for the purposes of car classificationserving only to set the starting order for the first stagenot Sunday.
Martim Ventura was the best national representative on motorcycles
On motorcycles, however, the prologue time already counts towards the classification. Martin Ventura (Honda) was the best national representative, in 21st position, in its debut year.
The driver of the official Honda team finished the prologue 01.05 minutes behind the winner, the Spaniard Edgar Canet (KTM), which scored its first victory in the competition.
The Australian Daniel Sanders (KTM), which defends the title, was second, three seconds behind Canet, with the North American Ricky Brabec (Honda) in third, five seconds behind.
Bruno Santos (Husqvarna) was 25th, 1.12 minutes behind the fastest and Pedro Pinheiro (Husqvarna) was 66th. Nuno Silva (KTM) was 80th.
Sunday will be played first stage of the Dakar 2026starting and finishing in Yanbu, in the northwest of Saudi Arabia, with 305 timed kilometers.
