Romanian biker Emanuel Gyenes (Autonet Motorcycle Team) finished 17th in the prologue of the 2026 Dakar Rally's motorcycle category on Saturday in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia.
Spaniard Edgar Canet (KTM) was the first to cross the finish line, clocking 11 min 31.9 sec over the 22-km timed stretch.
Canet was followed 3 seconds later by his Australian teammate Daniel Sanders (KTM) and 5 seconds later by American Ricky Brabec (Honda), who completed the podium.
Gyenes, racing in his 16th Dakar Rally, finished the stage 52 seconds behind the winner. The Romanian is the reigning champion in the 'Original by Motul' category, reserved for riders who compete without any kind of assistance.
In the car category, the Romanian brand Dacia Sandriders will field four crews, with Brazilian Lucas Moraes, French Sebastien Loeb and Qatari Nasser Al-Attyah as their leading drivers.
The 48th edition of the Dakar Rally features 4,748 timed kilometers for motorbikes and 4,840 for cars, running along a vast loop starting and finishing in Yanbu - almost 8,000 km in total - designed to maintain a consistent level of difficulty throughout.
The rally will open on rocky terrain with sandy stretches and small dunes, culminating in AlUla, on the second day of competition. Among this year's novelties, stages 4 and 5 will introduce a variation of the traditional marathon stages, with an overnight stay in a bivouac-refuge under spartan conditions, where assistance will be allowed only between competitors.
The second marathon stage, which - like the first - will send FIM and FIA vehicles on different routes, is scheduled for January 9 - 10.
Before the rest day in Riyadh on January 10, competitors will have to tackle Stage 6, the longest and "one of the most difficult" of the rally: 925 kilometres, including a 336-kilometre special made entirely of sand and dunes.
Another major change in this year's Dakar Rally is the absence of the "Empty Quarter", the world's largest sandy desert, in an edition that focuses more on "navigation, dunes and autonomy".
The official entry list includes 325 vehicles: 118 motorcycles and 207 cars, with reigning champion Yazeed Al Rajhi as the main local attraction. Australian Daniel Sanders (KTM) is the defending motorcycle champion.
After a one-year break, Frenchman Stéphane Peterhansel - nicknamed 'Mr Dakar' for his record 14 victories (six on motorcycles) - returns at age 60 to compete in the stock category (improved production car). Driving a Ford Raptor, Spaniard Carlos Sainz will try to put last year's early retirement (after three stages) behind him.
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