Riyadh, Jan. 4 -- The 2026 Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia kicked off with Spain's 20-year-old Edgar Canet delivering a landmark win in the motorbike prologue, while Sweden's Mattias Ekstrom topped the car category in Yanbu.
Riding for KTM, Canet claimed his maiden Dakar special and, according to available records on Saturday, became the youngest winner of a motorbike stage in the rally's history.
He finished three seconds ahead of teammate Daniel Sanders, with Honda's Ricky Brabec two seconds further back. KTM rider Luciano Benavides placed fourth, 11 seconds off the lead.
South Africa's Michael Docherty won the Rally2 class with a 26-second margin over Tobias Ebster and Konrad Dabrowski. Docherty was sixth overall, 19 seconds behind the ou...