TOYOTA GAZOO Racing recorded a fifth stage victory today when overall rally leaders, Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings, won Stage 8 of the 2025 Dakar Rally.
The GR Hilux EVO crew have led the rally since Stage 2, and extended their buffer in the overall standings to 5min 41sec with this victory. Toyota now have won seven of the first eight stages, including a stage victory by Yazeed Al Rajhi, who is in second place overall, in his privately entered Toyota Hilux.
Stage 8 saw the crews race from the bivouac at Al Duwadimi to the Saudi capital of Riyadh, via a timed special of 487km. Liaisons of 250km added to the total distance for the day, but it was the sandy tracks and dunes that truly tested the competitors. In the end, it was Lategan/Cummings who set the benchmark time, capitalising on their 13th-placed starting position for the day, and completing the tough stage just 1min 47sec clear of their teammates, Guy Botterill and Dennis Murphy.
Botterill/Murphy acted as support for the leading GR Hilux EVO yesterday, but were free to push for a stage win today, as they started too far down the order to assist Lategan/Cummings. Their pace was blistering, but a puncture near the end of the stage cost them the win. Even so, they were ecstatic with their performance today.
The role of water carrier for the leading car shifted to Saood Variawa and Francois Cazalet for Stage 8, even though the pair had to wait 18 minutes for the leading car to catch up with them. They fulfilled their role perfectly, slotting in behind Lategan/Cummings for most of the stage. This cost them 23min 15sec on the day, but they were already way down in the overall standings following a collision in Stage 2.
Stage 8 also brought another solid performance by Seth Quintero and Dennis Zenz. The #204 GR Hilux EVO crew finished 8min 22sec behind the stage winners, having completed the stage with a broken windscreen after a fellow competitor kicked up some stones as the TGR crew were passing. Quintero and Zenz are 1h 36min 54sec behind the leaders in the overall standings, well within the Top 10.
Lucas Moraes and Armand Monleon won Stage 7 yesterday, and had to open today’s stage as a result. This was an unenviable task, as the motorbikes had a separate route, leaving the GR Hilux EVO crew to pick their own way from waypoint to waypoint. They elected to let the crew behind them through, in order to simplify the task at hand somewhat. Even so, they lost 23min 29sec on the stage, dropping them down to 4h 38min 42sec behind the lead, but still in the overall Top 20 of the rally.
Four stages remain in this year’s Dakar Rally, with Stage 9 up next. This will take the competitors from Riyadh to Haradh, via a timed stage of 357km. The total distance for the day will be 589km, including a road section of 112km before the start; and another of 120km after the finish. The stage will see Lategan/Cummings open, with Botterill/Murphy starting just 3min behind them. Most of the route will comprise dirt tracks, with some rocks along the way.
Dakar 2025 will enter Saudi Arabia’s Empty Quarter with Stage 10, and remain in the fearsome dunes until the rally concludes on Friday, 17 January.
QUOTES:
Henk Lategan: “Not a not a bad day for us. I mean you can never be upset with a stage win, but we did leave some time on the table today. We got lost right in the beginning which cost us a few minutes; and then unfortunately we got a penalty for going a bit too quick into one of the decontrols. But you can never be upset with a stage win and we’ll enjoy this today. Then we’ll have to put our heads down and focus for tomorrow because we’ll be opening the stage.”
