Summarize

Despite a shocking start to the week, Monday’s eighth Dakar stage to Riyadh proved stunning for South African competitors across the board. Not only did SA champions Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings’ Toyota Gazoo Hilux lead a Made in South Africa 1-2-3-4 in the car section as they clawed back a five minute overall advantage, but biker Michael Docherty pulled off a giant-killing fifth in the bikes aboard his Rally 2-winning BAS World KTM behind Ricky Brabec. Compatriot Aaron Mare ended tenth in the bikes on his Husqvarna.

Overall leaders Lategan and Cummings had seen their advantage cropped back to a few seconds following an official faux pas on Monday. They hit the road running to storm to a 1 minute 47 second Tuesday victory over teammates Guy Botterill and Dennis Murphy as the South African Toyota Gazoo Hilux team continues to dominate the 2025 race. To make it even better, made in South Africa Century CR7 crews, French duo Mathieu Serradori and Loic Minaudier and South Africans Brian Baragwanath and Leonard Cremer ended third and fourth. 

Lategan and Cummings built up steadily, starting off in fourth behind Botterill and Murphy, Daniel Schröder and Henry Köhne in their South African built WCT Amarok and Mini crew, Guillaume De Mévius and Mathieu Baumel. Up to third by the next waypoint, then second and into the lead by WP4, Henk and Brett never looked back from there as they led Botterill and Baragwanath, before Serradori came from behind to nab third from his teammate.

Nani Roma and Alex Haro’s Ford Raptor was another car to climb up the order to end up fourth ahead of second overall, Saudi home hero Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Timo Gottschalk in another SA-built Hilux in sixth. Third and fourth overall, Swedes Mattias Ekström and Emil Bergkvist in their Ford Raptor and Qatari Dakar legend Nasser Al-Attiyah and Frenchman Edouard Boulanger’s Dacia Sandrider both slipped further back from the flying Toyotas up front, to now sit 28 and 34 minutes off the overall pace, respectively.

Running well back in the field, Schröder and Köhne’s Amarok slipped down the leaderboard as the day progressed following their flying start to run 14th at the time of writing. Provisionally South African Saood Variawa and Frenchman Francois Cazalet were 22nd as they carried water for the Toyota Gazoo team on Monday, and lady hero Aliyyah Koloc and Sebastien Delaunay were the best of the South African made Red-Lined REVOs in a handy 24th.

On two wheels, Mare ran fourth behind Ricky Brabec’s Honda, José Ignacio Cornejo on his Hero Moto and KTM man Luciano Benavides as Docherty led Rally 2 in sixth at waypoint 1. Docherty then picked the Rally GP machines ahead of him off to sit second behind Brabec, as Mare rode ninth. Amateur Docherty slipped back against his pro class Rally GP rivals as the day progressed to end up fifth. Second overall Tosha Schareina delivered a blinder over the dunes at the end to take the day in a Honda 1-2-3 with overall leader Daniel Sanders’ KTM fourth.

Mare finished the day tenth while compatriots Dwain Barnard rode 54th and Willem Avenant 92nd. Sanders has led from the outset and held a 12 minute overall advantage overnight with Honda trio Schareina, Brabec ad Howes in hot pursuit. South African girls, Taye Perry navigating for Corbin Leaverton and Puck Klaassen driving with former biker Charan Moore still sat fifth and sixth among T3 Challenger buggies led by Argentine duo Nicolás Cavigliasso and Valentina Pertegarini. 

Brock Heger and Max Eddy led the T3 Side by Sides and MM men Martin Macik, David Svanda and Frantisek Tomasek remain well in three days in the dunes including a short but murderous sting in the tail on Wednesday, remain before Friday’s rush across the dunes to the finish. Tuesday’s 357 km meantime races over gravel tracks to Haradh. Hang in there. Henk!