Dakar Rally resumes

After the forced cancellation of the eighth stage of the Dakar Rally yesterday, Friday, January 7, the racing resumed with KTM rider Isidre Esteve claiming his first stage victory on this year’s rally.

Esteve clinched the 361kms special between Tidjikja and Atar, beating Fabrizio Meoni by 1:29. Third was Ullevalseter, fourth Caldecott, then Cox, Despres, Coma and Fretigne.

The overall standings would have handed the lead to Meoni but he was handed a 10 minute time penalty for not respecting the GPS point corridor during stage 7 between Zouerat and Tichit. This puts Cyril Despres in the lead, with Marc Coma in second, 1:55 adrift. All the top six bikers are within 15 minutes of each other.

Sunday, January 9 is a rest day before the racing resumes on Monday.