The leadership of the RallyGP category in the 2026 Dakar Rally has changed hands, but KTM stays in control after Stage 8.
The Argentinian’s advantage is 10 seconds over his Red Bull KTM teammate Daniel Sanders, who was second-fastest through the eighth stage.
Ross Branch, Preston Campbell, and Toni Mulec continue to round out the overall top-10 for the bikes.
After losing his podium position to Nani Roma on Sunday, Henk Lategan got back into third place, past the Spaniard, on Monday.
Carlos Sainz remains fifth in the third of the Fords, 10’39’’ off the lead, and seven minutes ahead of Sebastien Loeb who stays sixth after Stage 8.
Seventh-placed Mitch Guthrie is still relatively in-touch, 23’00’’ off the lead, as is Loic Serradori in eighth and 25’04 behind Al-Attiyah.
There were only very small differences in stage times today, with the top-10 Ultimate runners covered by only 3’48’’ over the 483km of special, and less than one minute covering the top-four.
At the top of the stage times was Saood Variawa, the 20-year-old from South Africa taking his first stage win.
Tuesday’s Stage 9 will be the first half of this year’s second Marathon Stage, starting in Wadi Ad Dawasir on a route of almost 550km.
