2024 Dakar Rally: Benavides brothers hang on for Stage 8 1–2

Kevin and Luciano Benavides had anything but a case of the Mondays as they finished first and second in Stage #8, separated by just thirty-one seconds. However, they still have a ways to go in the Dakar Rally overall as neither gained any positions and remain fifth and eighth, respectively.

Hondas dominated the first half of the stage as overall leader Ricky Brabec and Adrien Van Beveren paced the RallyGP bikes through the first three checkpoints until they reached the transfer section at KM 165; spanning roughly thirty-nine percent of the route, the transfer was a 179-km long strip of highway that split the Selective Section in half and turned it into 279 kilometres of racing. Brabec and Van Beveren continued to lead as the race resumed, but the Benavides brothers roared to life in the final ten kilometres to leapfrog them; Luciano, aided by 1:39 in time bonuses after catching the first starter José Ignacio Cornejo, edged out Van Beveren by fifty-four seconds.

Brabec ended up finishing seventh but it was intentional on his part as he focused on the general ranking battle with Ross Branch. The two entered the stage with a one-second gap between them, and they were first and second upon hitting the final waypoint at KM 448 before they dropped back. By the end, Brabec was one spot and twenty-one seconds ahead of Branch, increasing their overall margin to forty-two seconds.

“I didn’t want to start too far away from Ross tomorrow so I had to play a little bit of cat and mouse with him,” Brabec explained. “I caught him early on so stuck with him all day, then at the refuelling point, I saw some times and I was winning. I let Ross take over and open the way to the finish line as we had to play smart today and I didn’t want him starting behind me tomorrow. It was still a good day to finish seventh and I’ll continue to have fun out there.”

The Audis also developed some breathing space with their own 1–2 finish after a dismal Stage #7. After retiring on Sunday with a mechanical failure, Mattias Ekström won on Monday with Stéphane Peterhansel in tow. Carlos Sainz finished fourth and six positions ahead of yesterday’s FIA winner Sébastien Loeb, who missed a waypoint and had to turn around to find it which costed him six minutes. As a result, Sainz now leads Loeb by 24:47.

Loeb’s Prodrive partner Nasser Al-Attiyah retired when his engine grenaded after sixty-two kilometres. Urvo Männama‘s Century CR7-T, which already missed two days due to a suspension parts failure earlier in the rally, burned down overnight while his team was testing it; those involved in the session escaped the blaze unharmed.

“Once these cars catch fire, especially with carbon (bodies), it’s practically impossible to put them out,” Männama explained. “So, it seems it won’t be going anywhere now.”

In the Challenger class, Saleh Al-Saif beat overall leader Mitch Guthrie for his second career Dakar stage victory and first since Stage #2 of the 2021 edition. João Ferreira enjoyed his second straight win in SSV and jumped from fourth to second in the overall, trailing Xavier de Soultrait by 7:41.

Carlos Santaolalla had a difficult day on the Dakar Classic side as he finished eighteenth after never finishing worse than fourth during the first week. Consequently, he falls from the lead to third as Ondřej Klymčiw reassumes the top spot.

Stage #8 winners

Leaders after Stage #8