Lategan masters drive to Riyadh to earn breathing room on Dakar Rally

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Honda rider Tosha Schareina of Spain competes during the eighth stage of the Dakar Rally between Al Duwadimi and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Monday, Jan. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

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Driver Nasser Al-Attiya, and co-driver Edouard Boulanger compete during the eighth stage of the Dakar Rally between Al Duwadimi and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Monday, Jan. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

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Driver Henk Lategan and co-driver Brett Cummings compete during the eighth stage of the Dakar Rally between Al Duwadimi and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Monday, Jan. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

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Driver Mattias Ekstrom and co-driver Emil Bergkvist compete during the eighth stage of the Dakar Rally between Al Duwadimi and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Monday, Jan. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

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Riders Edgar Canet of Spain, left, and Daniel Sanders compete during the eighth stage of the Dakar Rally between Al Duwadimi and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Monday, Jan. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

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Rider Jose Ignacio Cornejo Florimo competes during the eighth stage of the Dakar Rally between Al Duwadimi and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Monday, Jan. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — A brilliant five-hour drive to the Saudi Arabia capital earned Dakar Rally leader Henk Lategan the stage win and breathing room on Monday.

While every other driver grizzled about how tough navigating the 488-kilometer eighth stage from Al Duwadimi to Riyadh was, Lategan and co-pilot Brett Cummings made it look easy.

Motorbike front-runner Daniel Sanders of Australia also had a good day, limiting his losses to still have a handy lead of 11 minutes with four stages remaining.

Lategan took over the car lead on the stage after 113 kilometers when Guillaume de Mévius’ rear-wheel drive broke down. Last year’s runner-up, already out of title contention, took more than an hour to restart.

Lategan was first at every following waypoint. Even with a two-minute speeding penalty, he still won the stage by nearly two minutes from fellow South African and Toyota teammate Guy Botterill, who rued the minutes spent to fix a punctured tire near the finish.

France’s Mathieu Serradori was third, four minutes behind.

More importantly, Lategan’s overall lead over Yazeed Al Rajhi jumped from 21 seconds to nearly six minutes. Third-placed Mattias Ekstrom fell from 10 minutes behind to 29, and Nasser Al-Attiyah dropped 12 minutes further back to 34.

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“I am happy to finish this day,” said Al-Attiyah, whose hopes of a sixth Dakar title are fading.

The motorbike stage was bittersweet for Argentine winner Luciano Benavides and France’s second-placed Adrien van Beveren. They stopped to help Chile’s Pablo Quintanilla, who crashed after 133 kilometers and hurt his shoulder enough to withdraw. He’s a two-time runner-up on the Dakar and was seventh overall.

At the finish, Benavides and Van Beveren were credited with time spent helping Quintanilla and were first and second. They bumped provisional winner Tosha Schareina of Spain to third, six seconds behind Van Beveren.

Sanders was sixth thanks to more than six minutes of time bonuses from leading the way.

Overall, he was 11 minutes up on Schareina and more than 21 minutes up on Van Beveren. Sanders’ KTM teammate Benavides was fourth and defending champion Ricky Brabec of the U.S. dropped one place to fifth, nearly 31 minutes down.

“I think tomorrow’s going to be the last difficult navigation day before we head down to the Empty Quarter,” Sanders said.

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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing