Day Two of the 2026 Sonora Rally pushes north from Puerto Libertad to Caborca, delivering a brutal mix of speed, navigation, and punishing desert heat. What began with fast ranch roads quickly turned into a test of precision through dunes, dust, and mechanical attrition, shaking up the standings across multiple classes. We’ll be bringing you daily updates as competitors battle deeper into Sonora. Stay tuned.
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The Fangs Sink In
2026 sonora rally ss1 day 2
Day Two of the 2026 Sonora Rally Heads to Caborca
Day two of the 2026 Sonora Rally turned up the heat, in both the literal and figurative senses. Leaving the seaside of Puerto Libertad, the starting gun pointed onward and upward, sending racers on a northern trajectory inland toward the heart of Mexico and into a blistering 97-degree furnace.
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One could almost call the first half of the 252-kilometer stage pleasant. Competitors blitzed across 100 kilometers of near-empty, fast-graded ranch roads lined with dense cacti-a fact Josiah Skagen (#10) learned the hard way when he finished with spiny vegetation embedded in his arm. But that early speed was a trap. The fast tracks soon gave way to tricky navigational demands, including a treacherous stretch of camel grass and a sudden section of steep, dangerous dunes.
Expanses of desert sand have a way of muffling all visible surroundings. As vehicles honed in on the finish, roaring engines cut through the relentless buzzing of flies that populated the heavy air. But as tires cut deeper into the sand, the fangs of Sonora began to sink into the competitors.
2026 sonora rally ss1 day 2
Dust became a critical hazard. Rally Enduro rider Alan Mason (#12) saw his strong early pace evaporate in a blind corner. “I got linked up with Kyle McCoy and was following a little too close to him, got in his dust, and couldn’t see a corner,” Mason explained. “That was pretty much the end of my race.” Mason managed to finish the stage, but walked away with a separated shoulder.
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Speed zones also dashed a fair share of riders hoping for a clean day. Ciaran Naran (#21) saw his blisteringly fast physical time dented with a massive twenty-minute penalty, allowing Mike Johnson (#8) to claim the official Stage 2 Moto victory.
On four wheels, the mechanical attrition was equally brutal. The crew in the 2WD Dakar-grade truck (#207) spent the day fighting overheating issues before finally being trailered back to the bivouac. Larry Trim and Mickey Pertol (#208) registered a mechanical DNF. Meanwhile, Moto rider Ladislao Hernandez Aresti (#31) suffered constant battery issues in the dunes but, in true rally spirit, refused to arrive in Caborca aboard anything but his own machine.
2026 sonora rally ss1 day 2
For the privateers fighting for the Dakar entry prizes, Stage 2 required absolute precision. In the UTV Stock class, Jorge Cano and Abelardo Ruanova (#202) put on a flawless performance, winning their class with a 3:32:08 as they hunt down the $32,000 SSV Dakar ticket. “We know already that we are the only team pursuing the ticket… so we have to earn it,” Cano emphasized at the finish. “Today we had zero mistakes, smooth riding all day long.”
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In the Moto Dakar Dreams category, Adolfo Alonso (#2) cracked the top five overall to take control of the standings, closely followed by Ryan Nariño (#5), who gave up valuable time doing “six kilometers extra just playing around” trying to find a hidden waypoint.
Caborca is famous for its beef and pork, and tonight’s bivouac hosted a welcome, heavy dinner-a necessary intermission for an exhausted paddock. They will need the calories. The third day will see the grid rip 265 kilometers northwest toward La Salina, flirting with the coastline while dialing the challenge up even further.
For updates, news, and race reports throughout the rally, follow Sonora Rally on Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook. Commentary and race coverage will also be shared through the Chasing Waypoints Podcast, with content available on YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook.
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