South Africa’s Saood Variawa claimed victory in the eighth stage of the Dakar Rally on Monday, edging compatriot Henk Lategan by just three seconds, while overall leader Nasser Al-Attiyah of Qatar retained his lead with a reduced margin in the Saudi Arabian desert.
Read More: South Africa defends naval drills with Iran, Russia as ‘essential’
The 20-year-old Toyota SA driver completed the 483km loop around Wadi Ad Dawasir in one of the longest stages of the rally. Al-Attiyah, driving for Dacia Sandriders, finished fifth, one minute and 16 seconds behind Variawa. Mattias Ekstrom of Ford took third, while Ford drivers Nani Roma and Carlos Sainz placed fourth and fifth, respectively.
“The car was perfect on a very long stage where it was difficult to maintain the pace,” Variawa said. “In the dunes, we navigated well while many others got lost. We pushed hard and overtook several cars.”
Lategan’s strong performance moved him up to third overall, six minutes and eight seconds off the lead, with five stages remaining before the rally concludes on Saturday in Yanbu. Al-Attiyah, a five-time Dakar winner, acknowledged a small mistake near the finish that cost him three minutes but said he remained satisfied with his team’s performance.
The stage marked the fourth-ever one-two finish by South African drivers in the car category. The top five drivers, from three different teams, are now separated by just 10 minutes and 39 seconds, highlighting the tight competition this year. Reigning champion Yazeed Al-Rajhi withdrew last week.
In the motorcycle category, Argentina’s Luciano Benavides captured his third stage win in four days and took the overall lead for the first time from defending champion Daniel Sanders. Benavides now leads Sanders by 10 seconds, with American Honda rider Ricky Brabec third, 4 minutes and 47 seconds behind.
Read More: South Africa edge Zimbabwe to reach AFCON knockouts
The Dakar Rally, which began in 1978 as a Paris-to-Dakar race across the Sahara, has been held in Saudi Arabia since 2020 after stops in South America.