North Yorkshire endurance racer Robbie Wallace finally got to achieve his dream when he finished the 2026 Dakar Rally earlier today and in doing so, claimed a prestigious gold medal after his two-week adventure in Saudi Arabia.
The Northallerton rider had to overcome illness and injury during the event but saved his best to last when on today’s final sprint over 88 miles around Yanbu, he claimed an amazing 17th place in the Rally 2 class and 28th overall aboard the X-Raids-supported KTM 450 which was prepared in his dad Duncan’s garage in Romanby by the pair of them.
Robbie, who works for Northern Powergrid as an overhead lines engineer, ended up in 43rd position overall and 28th in the Rally 2 class after 5,000 miles (8,000km) of riding, of which nearly two-thirds were competitive meaning pre-dawn early starts, sometimes as early as 4am and late finishes, often into darkness, with his accommodation over the fortnight being a one man tent and sleeping bag and surviving occasionally on basic army rations supplied by the organisers.
The finish complements his inaugural attempt last year which saw him reach the finish but the 28-year-old was not listed in the final classification due to missing a couple of stages after being airlifted to hospital, before being cleared to continue to claim a Dakar Experience medal for his efforts.
And just to highlight the unpredictable nature of the world’s toughest motorsport event, on today’s final stage, considered the easiest by far of all the tests, one of which totalled 571 miles (920km) in a day last Friday, four motorcycle competitors and 17 car crews retired within sight – some literally – of the finish ramp!
Robbie Wallace: “That’s it, Mission Dakar is complete! Now I can finally say I have completed the Dakar Rally and have the precious gold medal in my hand. It’s taken two attempts and many years of training for the brief moment but I’m so happy I’m able to say I’ve done it. I was delighted to finish 28th on today’s stage in and around the professionals which showed my true speed when I’m feeling good and fit. I probably should have held back, but I thought ‘sod it’, have some fun so I opened the taps! None of this would have been possible without my friends, family, sponsors and supporters for making my dream a reality and I cannot thank them enough. Thank you for having faith in me and hopefully you enjoyed following this journey. It means the world to me to experience this, and I’ve had to work hard for it and now I can savour this moment for some time. Not bad for a working-class lad from a sleepy market town in North Yorkshire!”
Benavides Wins By Two Seconds…
The 2026 Dakar finale was one of those shocking moments in world sport which saw Luciano Benavides (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) edge out Monster Energy Honda HRC rider Ricky Brabec by just two seconds, the narrowest margin in the history of the rally.
A navigation error by American Brabec just 7km from the finish handed the win to Argentinean Benavides who picked up the first rally of his career, joining his brother Kevin (a winner in 2021 and 2023).
Nasser Al Attiyah added to his legend in the car category, winning the Dakar for the sixth time. He also opened Dacia’s account in the rally, beating the Ford Raptors of Nani Roma and Mattias Ekström, with Sébastien Loeb finishing just outside the podium.
Kevin Benavides emulated his brother’s triumph with a victory of his own in the Challenger stage, but the overall winner was the Spaniard Pau Navarro, whilst in the SSV class, American Brock Heger (Polaris) defended his title over Kyle Chaney (Can-Am).
Vaidotas Zala claimed the truck title on his second attempt. The Lithuanian defeated the battle-hardened Ales Loprais and Mitch van den Brink.
247 vehicles (out of 317 at the start) crossed the finish line in Yanbu, 204 of which were presented with finisher’s medals on the podium: 90 motorbikes (9 in Rally GP and 79 in Rally2), 133 cars (61 in Ultimate, 33 in Challenger, 32 in SSV and 7 in Stock) and 24 trucks.
Results after SS13 – Yanbu – Yanbu
Overall Position: 43rd (90 Finishers)
Rally 2 Position: 32nd (79 Finishers)
British Rider: 1st (4 Finishers)
Overall Time: 66h 55′ 59”
Time Behind Leader: 17h 55’ 18”
Distance Covered: 8031 km
Distance To Go: Zero, Zilch, None, Nothing, Nowt….!
More updates via the links below.
https://www.dakar.com/
https://www.facebook.com/dakar
https://x.com/dakar
https://www.dailymotion.com/Dakar
https://www.instagram.com/dakarrally
https://www.tiktok.com/@dakar
Notes to Editors.
The 48th edition of the Dakar Rally will see around 780 competitors from all over the world, including 115 in the motorcycle category, converge on Yanbu on the shores of the Red Sea in western Saudi Arabia. 2026 sees a significantly reworked route offering competitors a fresh challenge across Saudi Arabia’s vast deserts. The 2026 Dakar Rally will feature 13 full stages, plus the traditional Prologue to commence proceedings on January 3 that will help determine the starting order for the first full day of action. The rally will be split by a rest day in the capital Riyadh on Saturday 10 January, allowing competitors some vital recovery time before the decisive second week. Bike competitors will cover 7,896 kilometres over two weeks, including 4,826km in the form of competitive special stages, with the remainder made up of transport sections. With nearly 5,000km of timed running, the 2026 edition will be one of the longest Dakars in terms of competitive distance, making it potentially one of the toughest events in the rally’s recent history. The finish is scheduled for Saturday 17 January 2026 with the final stage around Yanbu.
ENDS
