Dakar Rally, Day 8

Day 8 of the Dakar was equally amazing. 477 kms of sand, dunes & navigation – the stuff the Dakar is known for. Marc coma was 1^st on the road and made a navigational error, this however saved his skin as he avoided a muddy stretch that stalled 2 bikers and he went ahead to win the stage. ‘It is common knowledge that the stage before the rest day is always difficult, day 8 was not an exception, with stifling heat and very soft sand. I gained 2 minutes on Cyril but that is obviously not enough! Anyway, we are second in the general classification on the rest day and everything is going smoothly, so it has been a good rally for us so far.’

In the car class, the 2 hummers opened the road. They have been plagued with mechanical gremlins and today wasn’t an exception but with that said, the team has made changes to the machines and they are transforming into the mosters they were meant to be. Robby Gordon took the 3^rd spot easy as Nasser whose objective is to claw back seven or eight minutes every day went flat out and finished 5^th. Peterhansel put a brave fight despite his limitations, “we came close to getting stuck. There was a moment when we overtook Gordon, who had just stopped due to a flat tyre, but he later caught up with us and then overtook us at full speed. We tried to follow him but it was impossible. With his wide clearings, he was able to jump over the gaps! If we attempted to go that fast, we would roll over twice. We suffer a bit in these open desert areas.” He however maintained the car and is still seating on top of the overall leader board.