Toyota Gazoo Racing

After losing a few minutes in the first part of the marathon stage, Nasser Al-Attiyah hit back on Monday. The Qatari secured his 5th stage win of the Dakar and brought his total of stage wins up to 40. But still, the Dakar legend is working on getting the job done this year and his main objective is winning the race. With the win on stage 8 he closed in on overall leader Peterhansel once again. Al-Attiyah is now less than 5 minutes shy of the overall lead in the Dakar.
Shameer Variawa was the second best of the Gazoo Toyota’s in the race. The South African had a tough start to the Dakar, but steadily improved. His reward was a great P7 on Monday, which secures him a nice starting place for tomorrow’s stage. Giniel de Villiers is still facing problems this Dakar, but he and co-driver Alex Haro keep fighting. They got to P19 on stage 8.

Tim & Tom Coronel

As part of their participation in the Dakar Rally Tom Coronel is not only the co-driver of The Beast, he’s also a camera operator. But on Sunday and Monday there was no time to waste on filming. The Coronel brothers blasted through the stage and came home with a decent 25th place. Although the marathon stage was a big ask for the cars, The Beast is still going strong.

Mammoet Rallysport

The big trucks in the Dakar Rally can almost overcome everything, but even a rough marathon stage is a big ask for the big guys. Martin van den Brink battled through it without big problems. He finished in P10 on Monday and consolidates his spot in the general standings. His 18-year-old son Mitchel van den Brink had a few long days aboard the Volvo, but they are still well in the race. On Monday it resulted in a top 20 place.

Riwald Dakar Team

Technical gremlins caused a few problems for Pascal de Baar during the marathon, but he bounced back in stage 8. De Baar finished in P12 and lost only 18 minutes to the leaders of the race. Gert Huzink unfortunately had to forfeit in the Dakar after new technical problems with the Renault truck.