Benavides rides to smallest Dakar Rally win margin and Al-Attiyah confirms sixth car title

YANBU, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Luciano Benavides exploited a navigation blunder by Ricky Brabec minutes from the finish of the Dakar Rally to sensationally win the motorbike title on Saturday by two seconds — the smallest margin ever.

Meanwhile, Nasser Al-Attiyah safely secured his sixth car title on the 13th and final stage, a flat-out 105-kilometer sprint along the Red Sea coast to Yanbu.

Brabec was hurtling toward his third Dakar victory. While Benavides' KTM was faster in real time, Brabec's Honda was collecting time bonuses for opening the way and extending his overnight lead of 3 minutes, 20 seconds.

Then seven kilometers from the finish Brabec took a wrong turn. Benavides didn't. He saw a headlight turn around and slowed to see who it was. When he realized it was Brabec, Benavides knew the “almost impossible” was possible.

“I saw the opportunity and I took it,” he said. “I felt ready all day. I told everyone at the start of the stage ‘This Dakar is for me.’”

Benavides finished second on the stage to teammate Edgar Canet, who won his third stage of this Dakar. When Brabec arrived 3:22 behind Benavides, the Argentine's team lifted him on their shoulders and shouted “Lu-chan-oh, Lu-chan-oh.”

“It's unreal,” Benavides said. “Two seconds after two weeks and almost 8,000 kilometers is something that is hard to understand.”

The previous closest margin was 43 seconds by Luciano's older brother Kevin. That was another stunning comeback. Kevin started the 2023 final stage 12 seconds behind and won his second motorbike title.

Brabec's Honda teammate Tosha Schareina was a distant third after coming second last year.

Luciano started his ninth Dakar never having reached the podium and just three months after tearing knee ligaments in the Moroccan Rally.

Even after he started the second week with consecutive stage wins, he rode in the shadow of teammate and defending champion Daniel Sanders, who was dominating the race until he crashed on Wednesday and broke his collarbone and sternum. Sanders continued practically riding one-handed and finished fifth for valuable points in the defense of his world rally-raid title.

Brabec won Friday's stage to gather an overall lead that even Benavides thought “was mathematically almost impossible” to overcome.

But, he said, “I never stopped believing. For me there was no strategy any days, I just give my best. I never tried to slow down. I feel bad for Ricky. He did a mistake and (it) cost (him) the Dakar.”

Al-Attiyah confirmed his sixth car title — two behind the record of former teammate Stéphane Peterhansel -- and first for Dacia after a cautious final drive, nearly nine minutes behind Mattias Ekström, who won his car-leading fourth stage.

Nani Roma could hack only six minutes off the overall leader's pace and Al-Attiyah ultimately beat Roma by 9:42, easily the lowest margin of his six victories.

Al-Attiyah has won for four different manufacturers in 2011 and 2015 in Argentina, in 2019 in Peru and in 2022, 2023 and this year in Saudi Arabia.

“I still need to beat Peterhansel's record,” he said.

Al-Attiyah and Belgian navigator Fabian Lurquin both made their Dakar debut in 2004 and remember joking then that they would pair up one day. That happened only six months ago. Luquin, a former airline pilot, followed his father Jean-Marie into the Dakar and has surpassed him with his first Dakar win.

The Qatar-Belgium duo made the decisive move on Wednesday, regaining the lead by 12 minutes in the second half of a marathon stage. In the context of the closest race in more than two decades, the margin was massive.

“It's amazing to win," Al-Attiyah said. “I might not be showing much emotion but it's in my heart. We are so happy and thankful.”

Roma, the 2014 car champion, earned his first podium finish since 2019. Ekström's Ford held off Sébastien Loeb's Dacia by 37 seconds for consecutive third-place finishes. Loeb finished and failed to podium for the first time in 10 years.

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

Driver Nasser Al-Attiyah of Qatar, right, and co-driver Fabian Lurquin of Belgium celebrate winning the Dakar Rally after the thirteenth stage with a start and finish in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, Jan.17, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Driver Nasser Al-Attiyah of Qatar, right, and co-driver Fabian Lurquin of Belgium celebrate winning the Dakar Rally after the thirteenth stage with a start and finish in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, Jan.17, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Rider Ricky Brabec of the U.S. reacts after the thirteenth stage with a start and finish in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, Jan.17, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Rider Luciano Benavides of Argentina, centre, celebrates winning the Dakar Rally after the thirteenth stage with a start and finish in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, Jan.17, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Rider Luciano Benavides of Argentina celebrates after the thirteenth stage with a start and finish in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, Jan.17, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Ecuador declared Cuba’s ambassador, Basilio Antonio Gutiérrez, and his diplomatic staff “persona non grata” on Wednesday and gave them 48 hours to leave the South American country.

Ecuador’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that the measure was adopted within the framework of international diplomatic law, but didn't say why they were forcing the diplomats to leave. The Vienna Convention allows countries to declare diplomatic personnel a persona non grata without explanation.

Cuba's government strongly rejected the move in a statement on Wednesday night, calling it an “unfriendly and unprecedented act that significantly damages the historic relations of friendship and cooperation between both countries."

“This action also demonstrates the contempt of the current government of Ecuador for the diplomatic practices and courtesies observed by the international community,” wrote Cuba's Foreign Ministry.

The decision follows an executive order signed Tuesday by Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa in which he canceled Ecuadorian ambassador to Cuba José María Borja's diplomatic duties, also without explanation.

The same day, the United States and Ecuador announced they have begun joint military operations against organized crime groups in the Andean nation. Noboa has sought to position himself as a tough-on-crime leader in the wake of a surge of armed group violence in recent years.

The measure comes amid mounting pressure by U.S. President Donald Trump on Cuba, which intensified after a U.S. military operation deposed former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.

Since, Trump has placed restrictions of oil sales to Cuba and said the government was “ready to fall.” Ecuador is one of the Trump administration’s allies and collaborators in the fight against drug trafficking and organized crime in the region.

Cuban authorities said Wednesday that it was “no coincidence” that Ecuador expelled its diplomatic staff at the same time the U.S. was asserting pressure on Cuba and other governments in the region, and ahead of a meeting of mostly right-wing Latin American leaders in Miami next week, which Noboa is slated to attend.

Ecuador and Cuba have maintained bilateral relations since 1960, which have ebbed and flowed with shifts in Ecuadorian politics.

The Wednesday decision has an “ideological component,” said Andrea Endara, coordinator of Political Science and International Relations at Casa Grande University. She said that Noboa “has aligned himself with the interests of the United States.”

The effective expulsion of the Cuban officials follows a number of diplomatic dramas between Ecuador and other Latin American nations in recent years. In 2024, Ecuadorian officials raided the Mexican embassy to arrest the former vice president taking shelter there. Experts said this was a blatant violation of international law, causing Mexico to cut off relations.

More recently, a trade war has broken out between Ecuador and neighboring Colombia, which Noboa’s government accused of not doing enough to crack down on crime on their shared border.

Follow AP’s Latin America coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

FILE - This is a general view of El Malecon in Havana, Cuba, seen Nov. 1971. (AP Photo/Beverley Reed, File)