TGRSA COMPLETES DEMANDING MARATHON STAGE WITH SOLID RECOVERY ON STAGE 5

• All three TGRSA crews safely complete the two-day Marathon stage
• João Ferreira delivers a clean run to finish inside the top 10 on Stage 5
• Guy Botterill and Saood Variawa show strong pace despite dust and navigation challenges
• Focus now shifts to the long haul to Riyadh and the all-important Rest Day

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing South Africa (TGRSA) successfully brought all three GR Hilux IMT Evo cars back to the bivouac on Thursday, as Stage 5 concluded the first Marathon stage of the 2026 Dakar Rally with a demanding run from the Marathon Refuge to Ha’il.

The second leg of the Marathon featured a 371 km special stage within a total distance of 427 km and rewarded crews who balanced pace with tyre management and navigation accuracy. With no external assistance permitted overnight, the emphasis remained firmly on self-reliance and mechanical sympathy.

Leading the way for TGRSA on Stage 5 was João Ferreira, partnered by Filipe Palmeiro (#240), who produced his cleanest run of the rally so far to finish eighth on the stage, just 6 minutes 07 seconds off the winning pace. After a puncture-heavy Stage 4, the Portuguese pairing capitalised on a fast and flowing route to claw back time.

“Today the stage was super fast and very tricky for navigation,” said Ferreira. “But we had no punctures today, so it was the cleanest run we’ve had so far. After yesterday we did all the maintenance ourselves at the Marathon bivouac, and the car was in perfect condition. We managed to close the gap a little bit, which is the most important thing.”

Saood Variawa and Francois Cazalet (#213) finished Stage 5 in 19th position, 15 minutes 52 seconds down, after a day marked by dust, traffic and a costly navigation delay. Despite showing strong pace early on, the pair lost time when caught in a group of cars searching for the correct route.

“We were quite fast in the beginning and passed two cars ahead of us,” said Variawa. “But then we got stuck in a train with a lot of dust and later lost time in a navigation zone where many cars were struggling. It was a day to forget, but the car is in one piece and that’s the main thing.”

For Guy Botterill and Oriol Mena (#218), Stage 5 represented a welcome step forward after a difficult opening to the Marathon. The pair delivered a solid drive to finish 10th on the stage, 7 minutes 03 seconds behind the leader, having avoided punctures entirely.

“Today was a reasonably good day for us,” said Botterill. “The pace was right up there, but we got caught in a lot of dust and it’s very difficult to overtake when guys don’t move over. Still, we’re happy with the performance and we didn’t have a single puncture over the two days. I think we’ve worked out the pace we need to run in the rocks.”

After five stages, Variawa and Cazalet hold 12th overall at +21:28, Ferreira and Palmeiro sit 14th at +30:17, while Botterill and Mena are 20th overall at +01:09:42 as the rally approaches a pivotal pause.

Looking ahead, Stage 6 will take competitors from Ha’il to Riyadh in the final stage of the opening week of Dakar 2026. With a 326 km special stage forming part of a 915 km total day, and a heavy emphasis on sand and dunes, the stage will demand endurance and concentration before crews are rewarded with the Rest Day in Riyadh. While drivers take a brief breather, the technical teams will begin the intensive work of rebuilding the cars in preparation for the decisive second half of the rally.

DAKAR RALLY 2026 – STAGE 5 RESULTS

DAKAR RALLY 2026 – STANDINGS AFTER STAGE 5