The 2026 Dakar Rally has come to a premature end for Isidre Esteve y Txema Villalobos. During the sixth stage, held this Friday, the team suffered a accident which has prevented him from continuing in the race. Both the pilot and co-pilot are fine, although they have been transported by helicopter to carry out the pertinent evaluations. Esteve presents a fissure in the sternumwhile Villalobos suffers a whiplash
Impact against a dune
The incident occurred in kilometer 228 of the special when the car has hit head-on against the wall of a dune. The blow has considerably damaged the front of the Toyota DKR GR Hiluxwhich has made it impossible to get back on track.
“We started the stage very well, but at kilometer 228 we hit the wall of a dune. Luckily, Txema and I are fine. It’s a shame to have to retireespecially after the great stage we completed yesterday, in which we were able to demonstrate our pace.”
Second abandonment by car
This retirement occurs in Isidre Esteve’s 21st participation in the Dakar –10 by motorcycle and 11 by car– and it represents the fourth abandonment in total in the long career of the pilot from Oliana (Lleida) in the toughest test in the world. To date, he had only done it twice by motorcycle (2003 and 2006) and once by car (2020).
The misfortune comes just the day after the Repsol Toyota Rally Team signed his best performance in this Dakar 2026 with a 21st absolute position in the fifth stage and when he was in 27th place overall in the Ultimate category.
