RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — During a remarkable five-hour drive to the capital of Saudi Arabia, Henk Lategan, leading the Dakar Rally, claimed victory for the stage on Monday, creating a comfortable gap between him and his competitors.
While other participants struggled with the challenges presented by the demanding 488-kilometer eighth stage from Al Duwadimi to Riyadh, Lategan and his co-pilot Brett Cummings navigated through the course with apparent ease.
In the motorbike category, Australian rider Daniel Sanders held steady, preserving his significant lead of 11 minutes with just four stages remaining in the race, despite facing his own set of difficulties.
Lategan seized control of the pack after just 113 kilometers when competitor Guillaume de Mévius encountered mechanical issues with his rear-wheel-drive vehicle. Although de Mévius, last year’s runner-up, put in more than an hour to get back on track, Lategan capitalized on this opportunity.
Lategan reached all subsequent waypoints first, and even with a minor two-minute penalty for speeding, he still managed to finish the stage nearly two minutes ahead of his fellow South African and Toyota teammate Guy Botterill. Botterill lamented about the time lost due to repairing a punctured tire just before crossing the finish line.
Mathieu Serradori from France completed the stage in third place, finishing four minutes behind Lategan.
Crucially, Lategan’s overall lead over Yazeed Al Rajhi widened significantly, jumping from 21 seconds to nearly six minutes. Mattias Ekstrom, who was in third, fell back from 10 minutes behind to 29 minutes, while Nasser Al-Attiyah’s time deteriorated further, increasing his gap to 34 minutes.
“I am happy to finish this day,” remarked Al-Attiyah, acknowledging that his pursuit of a sixth Dakar title is slipping away.
The motorbike segment produced a mix of emotions for Luciano Benavides, the Argentine winner, and his French rival Adrien van Beveren, who finished second. The two riders took a moment to assist Chilean competitor Pablo Quintanilla, who sustained a shoulder injury after crashing at the 133-kilometer mark, ultimately forcing him to withdraw from the race. Quintanilla has been a two-time runner-up and was positioned seventh overall prior to the incident.
Upon reaching the finish line, Benavides and Van Beveren received recognition for their efforts in helping Quintanilla, securing the first and second positions respectively, which nudged Spain’s Tosha Schareina to third place, just six seconds behind Van Beveren.
Sanders finished the stage in sixth but benefited from over six minutes of time bonuses for being in the lead, resulting in a net advantage of 11 minutes over Schareina, with a gap of more than 21 minutes separating him from Van Beveren. In the overall standings, Benavides was fourth, while defending champion Ricky Brabec from the U.S. slipped to fifth place, trailing nearly 31 minutes behind the leader.
“I think tomorrow’s going to be the last difficult navigation day before we head down to the Empty Quarter,” Sanders expressed, looking ahead to the upcoming challenges in the rally.
