Isle of Man TT star to retire from 2026 Dakar Rally after early crash

Isle of Man TT winner James Hillier has retired from the 2026 Dakar Rally after only the first stage due to injury.

Road racing regular Hillier was competing in Saudi Arabia for the third time in this year’s edition of the famous rally raid event.

The British rider finished 52nd in the Prologue that opened proceedings, and was 59th in the Stage 1 standings.

But that opening stage finish came after a crash after around 250km of the total 518 stage kilometres.

Although Hillier hurt his arm in the crash, it was only discovered after he finished the stage that he had sustained a fracture and would therefore be forced to withdraw from the event.

Having made his Dakar debut in 2023, Hillier was lining up for the third time at the event in this year’s edition, and for the second time on a Kove.

Hillier’s previous two attempts also resulted in injury, although he made the finish of the rally on each occasion: in 2023, Hillier crashed on the sixth stage and dislocated his shoulder; while in 2025 he broke his nose in a crash on the first stage and was forced to miss the following 48-hour Chrono stage.

Following that first full stage of the rally on Sunday, 20-year-old Edgar Canet led the rally. His victories in the opening two stages saw him become the youngest rider in Dakar history to win a stage overall as the Spaniard makes his debut in the premier RallyGP category.

Monday’s Stage 2, however, has seen Canet overhauled by his Red Bull KTM Factory Racing teammate and defending Dakar champion Daniel Sanders who won the stage and now leads overall by 30 seconds from Canet.

In the Ultimate car category, 2025 winner Yazeed Al-Rajhi found himself over 20 minutes off the lead following the first stage, after picking up a 16-minute penalty for a speeding infringement and missing a waypoint.

At the front, X-Raid’s Guillaume de Mevius led after the opening stage by 40 seconds from Dacia’s Nasser Al-Attiyah. Non-factory driver Martin Prokop, in a Ford, was third overall after the first stage and 87 seconds off the lead.