Sweden's Mattias Ekstrom made a quick start to the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia on Saturday by leading a Ford one-two, the manufacturer's first, in the 22km prologue to the main event.
🏁1️⃣ Mattias Ekström fue el ganador del prólogo de la categoría Autos del @dakarrally 2026.
— Carburando (@CarburandoTV) January 3, 2026
2️⃣ Mitch Guthrie
3️⃣ Guillaume de Mévius #Dakar2026 #DakarInSaudi #Autos pic.twitter.com/brMUC0DxbE
The two-time German Touring Car (DTM) champion covered the distance around Yanbu in 10 minutes 48.7 seconds in his Raptor, eight seconds faster than American teammate Mitch Guthrie.
Belgian Guillaume de Mevius and Qatari five-times winner Nasser Al-Attiyah were third and fourth in the same time for Mini X-Raid and Dacia Sandriders respectively.
Mattias Ekstrom conduce la startul Dakar Rally 2026 în Arabia Saudită cu un Ford pe primul loc pic.twitter.com/AyzKmYbN4w
— unumihai (@unumihaii) January 3, 2026
It was Ekstrom's third prologue success after 2023 and 2024 and his sixth Dakar special stage win.
Saudi Arabia's defending champion Yazeed al-Rajhi was sixth and 14 seconds off the pace for Toyota Overdrive.
The prologue positions determine only the start order for Sunday's first proper stage, with the times not carrying over but the 10 fastest drivers picking their start positions among the first 16.
In the motorcycle category, Spaniard Edgar Canet was fastest for KTM and became the youngest stage winner on two wheels at the age of 20 years nine months and 18 days.
Defending champion and teammate Daniel Sanders of Australia was three seconds behind with American Ricky Brabec third for Honda.
Canet will start 15th on Sunday with Sanders 16th.