Surprisingly, Lategan is leading today and can significantly increase his lead over Al-Rajhi. Al-Attiyah could come within striking distance of third-placed Ekström.
With his first victory of the day, apart from his victory in the introduction, South African Henk Lategan was able to make up for yesterday’s big yo-yo loss to his Toyota teammate Yazeed Al-Rajhi.
Al-Rajhi co-driver Timo Gottschalk sighed: “Today it was just that starting further back was an advantage. Henk made a lot of time this way. Now it’s up to us to make up the deficit and a little bit more in the next four days.”
Toyota Gazoo Racing team-mate Guy Botterill did even better today to take second place.
The big surprise today was the Century team with Mathieu Serradori and Brian Baragwanath, who finished third and fourth. Serradori, the only driver spared from tire damage in the first week, is now in a comfortable sixth place overall, among the major factory teams.
Dacia driver Nasser Al-Attiyah closed in on Mattias Eksström (Ford) in a thrilling battle for third place and took a huge victory of almost four minutes. Sandrider, who started two places further back on the 487km stage from Al Duwadimi to the Saudi capital Riyadh, was more than eleven minutes behind Ekstrom before today’s start.
The pair have been in contention for the final podium spot since the fourth stage, when Al-Attiyah and his co-driver Edouard Boulanger were stopped for more than half an hour with a broken back arm.
The route to Riyadh again represented a split between the motorcycle and car categories.
Ekström was also exemplary proof of this. After his top position yesterday, he had to start from second place and only set the 53rd fastest time. He lost more than four minutes until the first route reached 54 kilometers. His teammate Mitch Guthrie Jr. he didn’t do much better from the third starting position, as he only placed 64th in the time rankings in the Challenger and SSV series.
As with the controversial stage seven, navigation was a particular challenge today in the early stages of stage nine. The workers had to overcome overgrown rocks in front of most of the ridge.
In the later part of today’s stage, Ekström was able to maintain his lead over Al-Attiyah. “When you are in the dust, it is very difficult to judge which way is the right one,” said Ekström. “The navigation was very difficult at first. Later on the ridges it was a lot of fun and we got back to it quickly.”
Ekström and his sailor Emil Bergkvist had to turn back several times because of the difficult navigation. However, the two Swedes were generally satisfied with their performance today. “I think we had a good pace considering there were no bikes in front of us. In the end we were able to catch up with Nasser (Al-Attiyah), Yazeed (Al Rajhi) and Lucas (Moraes) and Karne on the ridges.
Moroccan Rally winner Al-Attiyah also admitted that he initially struggled with navigation before entering the dunes. “It was a very difficult day,” explained Al-Attiyah.
“Sometimes when we opened, it was very difficult. Yazeed had a good line. When he passed us, we just followed him until we could pass him again on the ridges. But it was very difficult today.
Results of stage 8 Al Duwadimi – Riyadh (250/483 km)
1. Lategan/Cummings (Toyota) 4:51.54 hours
2. Botterill/Murphy (Toyota) +1:47 Min
3. Serradori/Minaudier (Century) +4.04
4. Baragwanath/Cremer (Century) +4.09
5. Roma/Haro (Ford) +5.17
6. Al-Rajhi/Gottschalk (Toyota) +5.20
7. Prokop/Chytka (Ford) +6.19
8. Ferreira/Palmeiro (Mini) +6.42
9. Baciuska/Mena (Toyota) +6.44
10. Quintero/Zenz (Toyota) +8:22
Overall standings after 8 of 12 stages:
1. Lategan/Cummings (Toyota) 42:05.02 Hours
2. Al-Rajhi/Gottschalk (Toyota) +5.41 Minutes
3. Ekström/Bergkvist (Ford) +28.55
5. Al-Attiyah/Boulanger (Dacia) +34.14
5. Guthrie/Walch (Ford) +55.39
6. Serradori/Minaudier (Century) +58.24
7. Yacopini/Oliveas (Toyota) +1:32.11 Stunden
8. Quintero/Zenz (Toyota Hilux) +1:36.54
9. Ferreira/Palmeiro (X-raid Mini) +2:05.07
10. Baragwanath/Cremer (Century) +2:11.47
