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NewsDakar 2025, stage 8: Benavides, heart and victory

Dakar 2025, stage 8: Benavides, heart and victory

The second week of the Dakar 2025 is off to a flying start! Here's a look back at the weekend's highlights and an update on the standings after a day of fair play on Monday.

Dakar 2025 Motos: Adrien Van Beveren and Honda win their case

Thursday's 5ᵉ stage of the Dakar Rally had left a bitter taste in the mouths of French fans, with Adrien Van Beveren receiving a two-minute penalty. But on Friday, there was a dramatic turn of events: Honda HRC's claim of a GPS malfunction paid off. The penalty was lifted, giving Van Beveren stage victory and consolidating his 3ᵉ place in the overall standings.

With this success, the Frenchman picks up his 6ᵉ career Dakar victory. A benevolence also enjoyed by Australian leader Daniel Sanders, whose eight-minute penalty was erased.

Water has flowed under the bridge this weekend, and notable events have continued to redefine the hierarchy...

Stages 6 and 7: Brabec wakes up freshest

The 2024 winner, Ricky Brabec, had a long hard day, but it took more than that to see him resigned. After a day's rest, the drivers took to the road again on a demanding course of fast sections, technical sections and dunes. It was against this backdrop that Ricky Brabec made a superb comeback to win the sixth stage, 829 km long including 606 km of special stages. With this performance, the first American to win the Dakar Rally (in 2020) moves up to 4ᵉ place overall. Ahead of him was his teammate Van Beveren, who, by opening up the track, managed to compensate for his handicap and finished 2ᵉ of the stage, 23 seconds behind.

The big loser of the day on the bike was Ross Branch, who suffered a crash as early as kilometer 48 and had to forfeit the race, thus losing any chance in this edition.

Sanders, received 5/5

Solidly in the lead overall, despite a 9ᵉ place on stage 6ᵉ, Sunday January 12, Daniel Sanders confirmed his status as leader by winning stage 7ᵉ. It was his fifth victory on this edition. Adrien Van Beveren, a regular at the top of the leaderboard, placed 4ᵉ on the stage.

Dakar 2025 Autos: Al-Attiyah and Dacia on probation after Loeb's retirement

In the cars, Sébastien Loeb's retirement was a major blow for Dacia, which is now pinning all its hopes on Nasser Al-Attiyah. The Qatari made a spectacular comeback, coming back to within 21 minutes of Henk Lategan, after falling 35 minutes behind following the 5ᵉ stage. But it wasn't all plain sailing for Al-Attiyah: with just over 100 km to go on the special, he found himself going round in circles, unable to find the next waypoint.

A navigation error in the roadbook, not attributable to him or his co-driver Edouard Boulanger, which could have been costly. Fortunately, this misadventure was not fatal for the five-time Dakar winner, who continues to defend his chances.

Brazilian Lucas Moraes won this confusing7th stage, which angered participants in the car category.

Dakar Motos: Benavides and Van Beveren, heroes of Stage 8

All's well that ends well! After experiencing a roller-coaster ride and seeing himself snatched back the win on the 5ᵉ stage, Luciano Benavides (KTM) signs his first stage victory on this Dakar, this Monday between Al-Duwadimi and Riyadh. Then, the roles are reversed, with Adrien Van Beveren (Honda) taking second place. Daniel Sanders (KTM) remains overall leader.

For all that, it was a long wait before the winner of the 8ᵉ stage was confirmed in the motorcycle category. Tosha Schareina (Honda) looked like taking the win with a time of 4h53'00'' over the 483 km special stage. But the fate of Van Beveren and Luciano Benavides, who had come to the assistance of Pablo Quintanilla (Honda) after his crash at km 133, finally changed the outcome.

After spending almost 30 minutes with Quintanilla, who suffered a shoulder injury and was forced to retire, the two drivers saw this lost time credited back to them after GPS analysis. In the end, their pace proved superior to Schareina's. " Seeing a driver on the ground, especially someone with whom I have a special relationship, is always striking," confided the Nordiste, who pulled himself together: "After the accident, I concentrated on navigation. The tracks helped, but the dust made things difficult."

Results for Stage 8 Motorcycles

1. Luciano Benavides (ARG) - RED BULL KTM FACTORY RACING - 4h50'46"
2. Adrien Van Beveren (FRA) - MONSTER ENERGY HONDA HRC - 2'08" away
3. Tosha Schareina (ESP) - MONSTER ENERGY HONDA HRC - 2'14" away
4. Ricky Brabec (USA) - MONSTER ENERGY HONDA HRC - 4'21" behind
5. Skyler Howes (USA) - MONSTER ENERGY HONDA HRC - 4'59" behind

Dakar 2025: Bikes overall standings after the 8ᵉ stage

Here is the general motorcycle ranking after the 8ᵉ stage of the Dakar 2025:

1. Daniel Sanders (AUS / Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) - 44 h 26'52"
2. Tosha Schareina (ESP / Monster Energy Honda HRC) - 11'03"
3. Adrien Van Beveren (FRA / Monster Energy Honda HRC) - 21'31"
4. Luciano Benavides (ARG / Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), 30'48" behind the winner
5. Ricky Brabec (USA / Monster Energy Honda HRC) at 30'56"
...
13. Romain Dumontier (FRA / Honda HRC) 47 h 05'47" (+ 2 h 38'55")
14. Neels Théric (FRA / Kove Factory Racing) 47 h 26'44" (+ 2 h 59'52")

Main photo credits: Twitter @OfficialW2RC

Video credits: dakar.com / dailymotion

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