Martin van den Brink had a solid first half of the rally, but was also eager to gain some places in the overall classification. He started the second week very well with a 3th place on the stage to Al Dawadimi. It was a close fight with the fast Kamaz trucks, but Van den Brink held his place in the closing stages of the special. Mitchel van den Brink had his first real task with helping one of his teammates. It cost him some time, but it’s all part of the job in the Dakar Rally.

Toyota GAZOO Racing

In the Toyota GAZOO Racing team Nasser Al-Attiyah fought for another stage win, but also kept his lead in the general standings on his mind. He just missed out on the win, but defended his lead without any problems. "The second week of the Dakar is a different race altogether”, Al-Attiyah said. “We didn't really try to attack this morning, we left it for later in the stage. I'm not following any strategy. If we're in a position to win a special, we won't let it slip away, but our priority is to give it our all day after day and hope that it will pay off at the end of the Dakar."

His teammates had an uphill battle on stage 7 of the Dakar Rally: Shameer Variawa did well with another top-15 spot in the stage, he finished in P12. Giniel de Villiers had technical problems and lost one hour, but had help from his teammate Henk Lategan who sacrificed his chances for De Villiers.

Bernhard ten Brinke

Bernhard ten Brinke has found the rhythm and hasn’t put a foot wrong in Stage 7. He finished in 6th place and gained a few places in the general standings.

Riwald Dakar Team

The Riwald Dakar team also started well after the rest day. Gert Huzink finished in 6th place in the truck category while Pascal de Baar just missed out on another top 10 finish.