Monday’s stage of the Dakar Rally saw amateur driver Mathieu Serradori collect his first career victory, while fan-favorite Fernando Alonso finished second.
Only three of the five classes competed in the eighth stage of the event, as the motorbike and quad classes took the day off following the crash in Sunday’s stage 7 that lead to the death of motorbike rider Paulo Gonçalves. Both classes will return to action on Tuesday.
Here are some of Monday’s highlights:
In the cars class, Mathieu Serradori won his first stage, edging Fernando Alonso by 4:04.
Alonso’s second-place finish was his best yet in his rookie Dakar, and the two-time Formula One champion is now ranked 13th overall with four stages remaining.
Orlando Terranova finished the stage third-fastest, 6:19 behind, while Nasser Al-Attiyah finished 11th and narrowed his deficit to overall leader Carlos Sainz to just under seven minutes.
Sainz finished 15th overall, 19:15 behind Serradori.
Overall: Carlos Sainz holds an advantage of 6:40 over Nasser Al-Attiyah.
In side by sides, Mitch Guthrie set the quickest time in the stage, having rejoined the race under the ‘Dakar Experience’ category. However, Guthrie was assessed a penalty, giving the victory to Reinaldo Varela.
Varela finished 0:22 ahead of Francisco Lopez Contardo, while Austin Jones finished third, 7:21 back.
Overall: Casey Currie holds an advantage of 15:40 over Francisco Lopez Contardo.
In trucks, Andrey Karginov continued to race toward his second career Dakar victory by clinching his third consecutive stage win.
Karginov defeated teammate Anton Shibalov by 5:54, and now leads him by nearly a half an hour in the overall standings.
Ales Loprais finished third, 9:06 behind.
Overall: Andrey Karginov holds an advantage of 27:06 over Anton Shibalov.
Stage Wins:
Cars: [3] Carlos Sainz (Stage 3, 5, and 7), [2] Stephane Peterhansel (Stage 4 and 6), [1] Vaidotas Zala (Stage 1), [1] Giniel De Villiers (Stage 2) and [1] Mathieu Serradori (Stage 8)
Bikes: [2] Toby Price (Stage 1 and 5), [2] Ricky Brabec (Stage 3 and 6), [1] Ross Branch (Stage 2), [1] Jose Ingacio Cornejo (Stage 4) and [1] Kevin Benavides (Stage 7)
Side-by-sides: [2] Gerard Farres Guell (Stage 3 and 6), [1] Aron Domzala (Stage 1), [1] Francisco Lopez Contardo (Stage 2), [1] Mitch Guthrie (Stage 4), [1] Cyril Despres (Stage 5), [1] Blade Hildebrand (Stage 7) and [1] Reinaldo Varela (Stage 8)
Quads: [3] Ignacio Casale (Stage 1, 2, and 4), [2] Simon Viste (Stage 6 and 7), [1] Giovanni Enrico (Stage 3) and [1] Romain Dutu (Stage 5)
Trucks: [4] Andrey Karginov (Stage 3, 6, 7 and 8), [2] Anton Shibalov (Stage 1 and 4), [1] Siarhei Viazovich (Stage 2) and [1] Dmitry Sotnikov (Stage 5)
Highlights of Stage 8 will air on NBCSN tonight at 6:30 p.m. ET. The rally runs through Friday.