Stage 11 of the 2026 Dakar Rally arrived like a long, fast exhale after the brutality of the marathon stages. It was a day that demanded restraint as much as courage, a test of discipline in a rally that punishes impatience. For TOYOTA GAZOO Racing South Africa, it proved to be another measured step forward as the rally edged closer to its conclusion.
With fatigue now woven into every decision, the focus shifted from outright heroics to controlled execution. Long straights, relentless speed and punishing terrain forced crews to balance aggression with mechanical sympathy. Those who managed that equation best were rewarded.
Joao Ferreira and Filipe Palmeiro delivered one of their most assured performances of the event, bringing their GR-powered Toyota home in fourth place on the stage. Starting further back after the marathon stages, Ferreira faced the familiar Dakar cocktail of dust, traffic and limited visibility. Instead of forcing the issue, the Portuguese driver chose precision over risk, picking off competitors when the opportunity was clean and preserving the car over the long haul.
“It was super, super fast today,” Ferreira said. “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.”
That fourth-place finish did more than add a highlight to the results sheet. It secured a favourable road position for the penultimate stage, a critical advantage as the rally moves into its closing phases, where visibility and navigation often dictate outcomes as much as speed.
Guy Botterill and Oriol Mena continued their steady resurgence with a seventh-place finish on Stage 11, backing up the pace they rediscovered after the marathon. Running near the front on the road, Botterill faced the unenviable task of setting rhythm while knowing that quicker cars lurked behind, ready to capitalise on any hesitation.
Rather than overdrive, Botterill focused on flow. On what was one of the fastest stages of the entire rally, he committed early and stayed committed, trusting both the car and Mena’s navigation as the kilometres ticked down.
“It was flat out basically from the start line all the way to the finish,” Botterill said. “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.”
The result saw Botterill and Mena climb to tenth overall, reinforcing TGRSA’s presence inside the top ten as Dakar’s endgame approaches.
For Saood Variawa and Francois Cazalet, Stage 11 was less about results and more about resilience. The young South African endured a puncture early in the stage and spent extended periods trapped in traffic on a day where uninterrupted speed was everything. Time slipped away, but composure did not.
“It was a bit of a boring day as a driver, flat out all the time,” Variawa said. “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.”
That mindset has defined Variawa’s Dakar. At just 19 years old, he remains the strongest placed TGRSA crew in the overall standings, holding ninth with two stages remaining. In a rally that devours experience as readily as machinery, consistency has become his quiet weapon.
At the sharp end of Stage 11, Mattias Ekström and Emil Bergkvist claimed the win for Ford Racing, ahead of Romain Dumas and Carlos Sainz, but the story for Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa was one of consolidation rather than confrontation. After eleven stages, Ferreira and Palmeiro sit 19th overall, Botterill and Mena tenth, and Variawa and Cazalet ninth.
Attention now turns to Stage 12, a demanding route from Al Henakiyah back to Yanbu. The stage features a 311-kilometre Special Stage within a total distance of 720 kilometres, blending long dirt tracks with sand sections and stony terrain. Navigation, tyre management and concentration will be tested as exhaustion reaches its peak.
With the finish line now within sight, Dakar becomes less about chasing seconds and more about respecting the rally itself. Every kilometre still carries consequence. Every decision still matters.
For TOYOTA GAZOO RACING South Africa, Stage 11 confirmed what the final week of Dakar so often reveals: endurance is as much mental as mechanical. Two stages remain, and the work is far from done.
