The competitors were back out in the Saudi Arabian desert after having Saturday free to rest and take care of their vehicles.
It is the Dakar Rally’s seventh stage of the year. It covered a total of 873 kilometers, 483 of which were special.
“The first part is a canyon maze with constant changes of direction,” a Dakar spokesman said. “Finally, consummate dune-surfers will let their skills do the talking in an intense dune section.
“There is no time to lose in the race to gain time.”
Bikes
Honda’s Ignacio Cornejo won the stage, his third in the Dakar and a personal best. The Chilean rider finished only 32 seconds ahead of KTM’s Kevin Benavides. Neither of them received penalties.
It was an all-South American podium as Luciano Benavides -Kevin’s brother- completed it in third place. The Husqvarna rider was 3 minutes and 12 seconds slower to the top. However, it’s a good result for the Argentine as he’s expressed certain disappointment on his recent performances after struggling through the stages.
It’s all relative, though – some may say the performance of Benavides is no bad thing, but when you ride the Dakar Rally at such a competitive level, your eyes are on the win and nothing else.
Looking past the top three we have known faces as Ross Branch claimed fourth, only 6 minutes and a half from the lead. The Hero rider finished just ahead of Ricky Brabec, who received an almost 4-minute bonification for being among the openers of the stage.
Paolo Lucci suffered an accident at kilometer 192 and called for medical assistance. He was alert and standing on his two feet when he was airlifted to the hospital for further checks. Dakar has not released any further information regarding his condition.
Quads
The Quads category saw Marcelo Medeiros retire for the third time from the Dakar Rally. The Brazilian rider crashed at kilometer 165 of the stage, suffering chest trauma that, according to officials, “was not too serious,” but that was enough to leave him out of the event.
Manuel Andujar was the fastest through the desert, and victory had his name. However, the Argentine received a 15 minute penalty which dropped him down to second place, behind Alexandre Giroud.
The French Yamaha competitor was almost two minutes slower than Andujar, but the Argentine’s penalty allowed him to claim victory in the category.
Cars
Sebastien Loeb claimed his third stage win of the year, and his 26th in total. The French driver stormed through just ahead of Brazil’s Lucas Moraes by a gap of a little more than 7 minutes.
Loeb’s best finish in the Dakar has been second place – the last time in 2023. He has never won it.
Disaster struck for Mattias Ekstrom who had to stop only 47 kilometers into the stage. He suffered mechanical problems and was stationary for almost two hours. However, his fixes didn’t last long – he stopped only 10 kilometers after getting back to driving. He had to call his support crew.
Nasser Al-Attiyah had a great run and finished third, almost 10 minutes to the leader.
In the overall standings it is Carlos Sainz who leads. The Spaniard is ahead of Loeb by almost 20 minutes. Moraes is third but far behind, by over one hour.
The dream of another victory for Stephane Peterhansel seems to be drifting away. Mister Dakar is 17th, almost 4 hours behind the leader.
SSVs
The headline in the SSV category has been the disqualification of the Goczal brothers.
The governing body cited a violation of the technical code, as they ran with a ‘prohibited’ carbon clutch. Eryk Goczal was leading his SSV category. Both him and his brother, Michal, were disqualified.
“We emphasize that we do not agree with this decision and believe it is wrong,” an Energylandia Rally Team representative said.
“We completely disagree with the organizers’ decision. We would like to emphasize at this point that Eryk and Michal have declared their willingness to appeal in the case, although due to the regulations applicable to the Dakar Rally, the appeal may be recognized within 30 days, which actually deprives Eryk and Michal of the opportunity to achieve a high position (or winnigs) in this edition of the rally – even if the appeal is accepted.”
Despite the outside drama the competition continued, and today it was Joao Ferreira who clinched the first position for the second time this year. He fended off Xavier De Soultrait, who was behind by only 25 seconds.
Switzerland’s Jerome De Sadeleer completed the podium.
Trucks
Nothing out of the ordinary at the front as Martin Macik claimed his fourth victory of the year. The Bohemian also leads the overall standings and further extended it after today’s stage.
Fellow countryman Ales Loprais battled tightly with Netherland’s Mitchel Van Der Brink for second place. Loprais was faster.
Janus Van Kasteren, who had had a strong start to the rally, seems to be struggling to catch up to the front and finished fourth.