Stage eight held a very long day for the riders as after a 72km road section from Al Duwadimi, they then made their through 484 kilometres against the clock before another 178km on the road leading to the capital city of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh.

Second placed Tosha Schareina has brilliantly ridden a solid and steady rally so far as he continues to shave off time to overall leader Daniel Sanders each day.  Setting off just behind Sanders and Rally 2 rider Edgar Canet, he would be one to watch at the start of the stage as he knew that not only would he have to get past them, but he’d then need to soak up as much of the pressure of being out front as he fought hard to take as much bonus time as he could.

Schareina rose to the task strongly on the mainly dirt track route and hauled in 4’22” of bonuses to finish third, just 2’14” off the leading time set by Luciano Benavides.  After nearly 45 hours of racing, the Spaniard continues to defend his runner up place overall and today gained three and a half minutes on Sanders, with eleven minutes now separating them in the overall standings.

It was Dakar heartbreak though for Pablo Quintanilla as fresh from his third place finish yesterday he got caught out by an edge on an intersection, unable to get on the brakes in time to avoid it.  This threw him off his bike to hit the ground hard leaving him with a concussion and a battered and bruised body, obviously then unable to continue on his 13th attempt at the world’s toughest rally-raid.  It was a sad end to his Dakar journey as he’d been consistent throughout the nine days and was seventh in the overall standings when he set off this morning.

Adrien Van Beveren struggled with the navigation early on, an error costing him some vital minutes but that was going to pale into insignificance when he came across Quintanilla.  The famous Dakar camaraderie shone through as with Luciano Benavides they both stopped for 30 minutes to assist his stricken teammate and although it could have upset his rhythm, the Frenchman was unfazed and got back on the pace quickly.  With the stationary time recredited he ended the day just 2’08” off Benavides as he continues to turn around his Dakar Rally charge after some problems during his first week in Saudi Arabia.  He continues to cement his final podium position overall with nine minutes in hand over Benavides behind him in fourth.

Setting off in tenth, Ricky Brabec powered through the time checks on his Honda CRF450 RALLY to head the stage standings for most of the day as he followed the tracks made by the riders ahead.  Although he faded slightly later on he was only 4’21” off the quickest time of day so keeps his current position of fifth overall just eight seconds behind Benavides.

Skyler Howes scraped in under the five minute mark as the Monster Energy Honda HRC freight train swept up positions two through to five on today’s stage.  The American rider luckily had no lasting effects from his crash yesterday and although he had a small off this morning, it was a much brighter stage for him with an enjoyable ride through the dunes towards the finish line.

With a brief overnight stop in the capital city of Riyadh, tomorrow’s stage nine will see the riders on a slightly shorter 357km against the clock where the organisers have made sure most of it will be on fast tracks meaning this will be a day to really push and gain precious time overall as the monstrous dunes of the Empty Quarter looms on the horizon.

Rally GP Results - Stage 8

Rally GP Provisional Standings after Stage 8