TGRSA CREWS PUSH HARD AS DAKAR HEADS TOWARDS THE FINISH

• Joao Ferreira and Filipe Palmeiro delivered a strong fourth place on Stage 11, continuing their late-race momentum
• Guy Botterill and Oriol Mena backed up their recent pace with seventh on the stage after another flat-out day
• Saood Variawa and Francois Cazalet endured a demanding stage but remain focused on pushing through the final days

Stage 11 of the 2026 Dakar Rally delivered another long, fast and physically demanding day, with the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing South Africa crews once again required to balance outright speed with endurance as the rally entered its final stretch.

Joao Ferreira (240) and Filipe Palmeiro produced one of their strongest performances of the event, finishing fourth on the stage after a clean and controlled run. Starting further back after the marathon, Ferreira worked through traffic and dust to secure a solid result that also ensured a favourable starting position for the penultimate day of racing.

“It was super, super fast today,” said Ferreira. “We caught a lot of dust from other competitors, overtook several cars, and managed to finish the stage without major problems. Fourth place is a good result and now we’ll just try to enjoy these last two days of Dakar.”

Guy Botterill (218) and Oriol Mena continued their steady recovery after the marathon stages, finishing seventh on Stage 11 despite running near the front on the road in challenging visibility. With quick cars starting behind them, Botterill focused on maintaining rhythm and minimising mistakes on what was one of the fastest stages of the rally.

“It was flat out basically from the start line all the way to the finish,” said Botterill. “We did a great job. Seventh today is really good considering our road position. The car is performing well and Oriol was great on the notes. We were the quickest in the front bunch, so I’m happy with that.”

Saood Variawa (213) and Francois Cazalet faced a tougher day, with a puncture early on and extended time running in traffic on a stage where pace was critical. Despite losing time, the young South African remained composed as the rally edged closer to its conclusion.

“It was a bit of a boring day as a driver, flat out all the time,” said Variawa. “We had a puncture and lost time sitting in traffic on such a fast stage, but overall it wasn’t too bad. We’re ninth overall and we’ll keep pushing to see if we can climb the leaderboard.”

After Stage 11, Ferreira and Palmeiro sit 19th overall, Botterill and Mena move up to 10th, while Variawa and Cazalet hold ninth as the strongest placed TGRSA crew with two stages remaining.

Stage 12 will take the crews from Al Henakiyah back to Yanbu, featuring a demanding 311-kilometre Special Stage within a total route of 720 kilometres. The stage combines long dirt tracks, sand sections and stony terrain, placing equal emphasis on navigation, tyre management and concentration as fatigue levels peak late in the rally.

The rally will draw to a close on Saturday, 17 January, after 13 challenging stages, including two Marathons.

DAKAR RALLY 2026 – STAGE 11 RESULTS

DAKAR RALLY 2026 – STANDINGS AFTER STAGE 11