The battle for overall victory among the cars has not been this exciting in the Dakar Rally in years. The top five were only 10 minutes apart for the eighth stage, with Nasser Al-Attiyah (Dacia) as the leader. Things were particularly sour for Henk Lategan on Sunday evening, as he lost a certain victory due to a problem with the dampers of his Toyota.
And so Lategan had to go on the attack again to close the gap on Al-Attiyah, Mattias Ekström and Nani Roma. That’s what the South African did, even though he had to work hard for it. The differences were extremely small throughout the day, with the top five sitting within a minute of each other for a long time. Lategan raced at kilometer 382 with a mere lead of five seconds over Al-Attiyah and 21 seconds over Ekström.
Ultimately, Lategan would not walk away with the stage victory. Teammate Saood Variawa (20 years old) kept Lategan three seconds behind him, while Ekström claimed third place ahead of Seth Quintero and Al-Attiyah. The entire top five were within a minute and a half of each other.
Al-Attiyah retains the lead in the general classification. His lead over Ekström is exactly four minutes, while Lategan slowly gains momentum and concedes another six minutes. Nani Roma and Carlos Sainz complete the top five on behalf of Ford.
The Coronel brothers are still on their way, but lost an hour due to a broken drive shaft. They are now driving again.
View the general classification below!
