It seemed that it would arrive in the decisive week of the Dakar, but that was not the case. The Valencian Tosha Schareina (Honda) had provisionally claimed his first stage victory, but was waiting for the organization to give time back to Luciano Benavides (who was finally the winner of the day) and Adrien Van Beveren. Finally, the Honda rider was third in the stage, but was able to close the gap with the main Tuareg contender, Daniel Sanders (KTM). However, the Australian continues to keep the Spaniard at bay and his solidity – he has accumulated five stage wins in this edition – allows him to retain the lead with an iron fist.
In the eighth stage, of 483 timed kilometers between Al Duwadimi and Riyadh, Schareina had the advantage that Sanders had the arduous task of opening the track. The Valencian hunted down the Australian and gave him six minutes. Now, Daniel Sanders – proving that he is intractable and infallible – managed his race well and took advantage of the bonuses to reduce the margin that the Spaniard had narrowed to 4m30s.
Regarding what happened with Luciano Benavides (KTM) and Adrien Van Beveren (Honda), both stopped to help Pablo Quintanilla. The Chilean fell at kilometer 133 and had to abandon due to shoulder discomfort. Both the Argentine and the French lost half an hour because of this and the organization gave them back time, which allowed them to be first and second in the stage.
From a strategic point of view, it is something that could benefit Schareina in his fight with Daniel Sanders: he will not have to open the track in the last stage before the dreaded Empty Quarter desert. Be that as it may, now the distance with respect to the Australian has narrowed to 11m03s. It is a comfortable time, but it also does not allow the Australian to relax and take the Tuareg for granted.
On the other hand, Edgar Canet (KTM) confirmed one more day that he is the revelation rider of this 47th edition of the Dakar. Despite being the youngest in the rally, the one from La Garriga is standing out in his performances. After being second in the seventh stage, in this Monday he was eighth despite the fact that there were moments in which he had to open the track, something new for him. Canet continues to rub shoulders with the best and this continues to reinforce his leadership in the Rally2 subcategory: he is already more than half an hour ahead of his main opponent, Tobias Ebster.
The Catalan rises from tenth to eighth position overall, which is an extraordinary result. If the heads went to Edgar Canet, the tails went to Lorenzo Santolino, who until now was the only Spaniard who had won a stage in the Dakar 2025. The Sherco rider had electrical problems with his motorcycle at kilometer 314, which It knocked him out of the top 10 overall.
Cars
Al-Attiyah, practically eliminated from the equation with Lategan consolidating his leadership
After a day in which the siege tightened on him, South African Henk Lategan took a giant step on his way to victory in cars. The Toyota driver took the eighth stage and managed to once again open the gap with his main rivals for the Tuareg, leaving him almost in a head-to-head with Yazeed Al-Rajhi.
Lategan took advantage of starting in positions further back than Ekström, Al-Rajhi and Al-Attiyah. The Toyota driver had already caught them at kilometer 130, a stretch from which he dominated the stage. The South African increased his overall haul over the Saudi pilot from 21s to 5m41s; while the Swedish Ford driver is already 28m55s behind the Toyota driver. Fourth position goes to Nasser Al-Attiyah, practically ruled out for the final victory by being 34m14s behind the leader. The Qatari lost time with both Lategan and Al-Rajhi. It seems that Dacia’s battle will now focus on the bronze position with Ekström, the only one he has closed the gap against.
The one who had a good stage was Nani Roma (Ford), who came in fifth place, 5m17s behind Henk Lategan. The one from Folgueroles, whose times no longer count towards the general classification, felt comfortable with his Raptor. For her part, Cristina Gutiérrez finished twelfth. In the general classification, Pau Navarro rises to 22nd position.
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