The Dacia Sandriders has won the 48th Dakar Rally, the toughest test of car and crew in international motorsport, with Nasser Al-Attiyah and Fabian Lurquin claiming a memorable and highly impressive victory by almost 10 minutes.
An outstanding achievement in only its second participation on the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship event, The Dacia Sandriders had further reason to celebrate when its other three crews all reached the finish this afternoon (Saturday January 17).
Sébastien Loeb and Édouard Boulanger returned to the final bivouac on the banks of the Red Sea in fourth position, as Lucas Moraes and Dennis Zenz completed their first Dakar Rally with the team in seventh position. Cristina Gutiérrez and Pablo Moreno took 11th overall having started the final stage in 12th.
During 13 days of intense and gruelling competition over a total distance of 7976 kilometres – including 4809 against the clock – The Dacia Sandriders claimed two stage victories and only slipped outside the top three overall positions on one occasion.
Its success on the hugely challenging Saudi Arabian stages – a mix of undulating rock-strewn tracks, sand dunes, fast open sections and more besides – was not only down to the performance of its drivers and navigators and the Dacia Sandrider car, but the hard work, dedication and unwavering commitment of all its team members, partners and suppliers.
Katrin Adt, CEO Dacia Brand, said: “We did it! What an achievement, what an adventure, what a performance! Today is a historic moment and the proudest moment for the whole Dacia brand, our partners and customers. It’s the result of so much hard work by so many talented people and shows that the Dacia Sandrider is reliable and robust.
All the team members deserve this result, and they should be so incredibly proud for what they have done, achieving victory so early in Dacia’s Dakar journey.”
HOW THE FINAL DAKAR RALLY DAY UNFOLDED
After their stage-winning heroics on Friday’s penultimate run, a performance that put them within touching distance of victory, Nasser Al-Attiyah and Fabian Lurquin took a lead of 16m02s into the final stage of the 2026 Dakar Rally, a 105-kilometre timed loop around Yanbu, where the event got under way with the Prologue on January 3.
Featuring gravel tracks through a mountainous landscape, on which careful cornering was highlighted by the organisers as being essential, Al-Attiyah/Lurquin drove with utmost caution to ensure victory by 9m42s after going 36th quickest.
But it was a different story for Sébastien Loeb and Édouard Boulanger. Starting Stage 13 a mere 29s adrift of the podium, the Frenchmen knew they would have to give their all to snatch third place. Despite their best efforts, they missed out on the Stage 13 win by eight seconds and ultimately came up short of what would have been Loeb’s sixth Dakar podium by a slender margin of 37s. But having suffered several time-consuming delays during the event, fourth place was fitting reward for their tireless endeavour.
Defending world champion Lucas Moraes, for whom the Dakar Rally was his first event for The Dacia Sandriders and his first alongside navigator Dennis Zenz, was 18s adrift of sixth place starting Stage 13. After registering the 16th quickest time once a one-minute speeding penalty was added, they secured seventh in the final order, 1m48s down on sixth.
Cristina Gutiérrez and Pablo Moreno moved up from 12th to 11th in the overall ranking after they recorded the 10th best time on the deciding stage of the event.
AL-ATTIYAH MAKES ITS SIX AS LURQUIN CLAIMS MAIDEN VICTORY
Nasser Al-Attiyah has now won the Dakar Rally on six occasions including three times in Saudi Arabia – its home since 2020 – his previous triumphs coming in 2011, 2015, 2019, 2022 and 2023.
For Fabian Lurquin, the victory was his first on the event and the first in the car category by a Belgian navigator. Lurquin had three Dakar Rally podiums on his CV prior to this year’s contest, having finished second in 2022 and 2023 and third in 2024.
KEY QUOTES
TIPHANIE ISNARD, TEAM PRINCIPAL, THE DACIA SANDRIDERS
“We did it, we win the Dakar after the first full season of competing so it’s a wonderful result. Congratulations to everyone who made this incredible victory possible, especially to Nasser and Fabian who performed so well from start to finish, the perfect performance. This victory was the result of outstanding teamwork and commitment for which I am so very proud. Hours and hours have been dedicated to this programme so it’s just a big thanks to all the team. To have all our four cars finishing inside the top 11 is really impressive and testament to the efforts of our brilliant team. Victory is never something easy but when you work hard, and you are passionate dreams can come true. While it’s important to have some rest, the hard work doesn’t stop as winning the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship remains the target.”
NASSER AL-ATTIYAH (QATAR), DRIVER, THE DACIA SANDRIDERS
“To win this Dakar with our team, The Dacia Sandriders, it was amazing. 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 also 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. We worked very hard me and Fabian and also the rest of the team. I am sure we will work even harder next year to put three Dacia Sandriders on the podium.”
CRISTINA GUTIÉRREZ (SPAIN), DRIVER, THE DACIA SANDRIDERS
“There was a lot of navigation and sometimes it was difficult to find the way. But we take it easy with no risks and just finish. To see that Nasser and Fabian won is the result the team deserves, so very happy for this team and this family. It has been two years of very hard work by the team and all the members to achieve this result so this victory is for them. For us I am very happy to have the 11th position overall after all the ups and downs and the rollercoaster that we had. Very happy to see all the four cars in the finish line. We feel proud, we are here for that. Everybody helps each other and this is one of the best things about this team. I am very proud of these values, these values are very important in life. To see all the cars here makes me very proud of the team.”
SÉBASTIEN LOEB (FRANCE), DRIVER, THE DACIA SANDRIDERS
“It was not an easy Dakar. The stages were quite difficult, a lot of stones and tricky places. Overall, we finished fourth and when we see how many cars were really competitive, it’s not too bad. For sure we expected to do better but, at the end, I am happy to be at the end of the rally. We scored some good points still. It was not the easiest one that I did. We had some troubles with maybe too many punctures for me and that’s it. At the end my result is what it is but it’s a victory for Dacia and that was the main goal for the team. The team did an incredible rally so we have to be satisfied.”
LUCAS MORAES (BRAZIL), DRIVER, THE DACIA SANDRIDERS
“We finished the Dakar, my first time with The Dacia Sandriders and I am really happy to be part of this team and to understand where we need to improve. Overall it’s really nice and I’m happy to have three cars in the top seven, it’s a very strong result for the team. Thanks to the whole Dacia Sanriders team, it’s an honour to be part of this team and we’ve got to keep fighting now for the world championship. What a legend Nasser is, 50 stage wins and now a six times Dakar champion. For sure he’s getting close to the G.O.A.T. in legend numbers, it’s amazing to be part of it and to witness this for sure.”
FABIAN LURQUIN (BELGIUM), NAVIGATOR, THE DACIA SANDRIDERS
“That was not the best stage, maybe we were overcome by some emotions both of us, so we didn’t do the best navigation at the start. After that we came down and lost five minutes or something. But we still had five minutes ahead of us, so we said, ‘let’s make it calm and easy to the finish’, and that’s what we did to come here and celebrate. Relieved, it’s unreal. I’ve been dreaming of this one for 22 years and working on it for 22 years. My entire family is in racing forever, so I bring a nice trophy at home. I am somehow proud but very happy that I make a lot of people happy who support me. 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.”
DAKAR RALLY STAGE 13 RESULTS (UNOFFICIAL)
Yanbu-Yanbu
Stage distance: 105km Liaison distance: 33km Total distance: 138km
2nd Sébastien Loeb (FRA)/Édouard Boulanger (FRA), 46m22s
10th Cristina Gutiérrez (ESP)/Pablo Moreno (ESP), 48m27s
16th Lucas Moraes (BRA)/Dennis Zenz (GER), 49m17s
36th Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Fabian Lurquin (BEL), 55m02s
DAKAR RALLY PROVISIONAL ULTIMATE CATEGORY OVERALL RESULTS AFTER STAGE 13 (UNOFFICIAL)
1st Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT)/Fabian Lurquin (BEL), 48h56m53s
4th Sébastien Loeb (FRA)/Édouard Boulanger (FRA), +15m10s
7th Lucas Moraes (BRA)/Dennis Zenz (GER), +47m50s
11th Cristina Gutiérrez (ESP)/Pablo Moreno (ESP), +1h29m49s
DAKAR RALLY: THE BIG NUMBERS
6: Nasser Al-Attiyah has now won the Dakar Rally six times
1: Victory on the 48th Dakar Rally was the first for navigator Fabian Lurquin
4: The Dacia Sandriders becomes a four-time winner in the W2RC
11: All four of The Dacia Sandriders’ crews finished in the top 11 overall
50: Al-Attiyah completed the event by equalling the Dakar Rally stage-win record of 50 stage wins, jointly held by Stéphane Peterhansel and Ari Vatanen
7976: The Dacia Sandriders’ four crews each covered a total distance of 7976 kilometres, including 4809 against the clock
13: The 48th Dakar Rally took place over 13 stages between January 4-17. The itinerary also included a Prologue stage on January 3 and a Rest Day on January 10
MORE INFORMATION
All The Dacia Sandriders’ media information, including a summary of the key moments and press release archive, is available at the dedicated Sportity media channel. Password: THEDACIASANDRIDERSMEDIA2026
Official pictures are available on our media platform:
Password: DaciaSandRDRS2025
WHAT’S NEXT?
Rally-Raid Portugal hosts round two of the 2026 FIA World Rally-Raid Championship from March 17-22.