Dakar 2022 Stage 7 & 8 : Rodrigues Grabs Top Ten Finishes For Hero MotoSports While Noah Continues Upwards Trajectory

The second half of Dakar 2022 commenced over the weekend with the seventh and eighth stages. The former had competitors travel on a 701km route from Riyadh to Al Dawadimi with 402km of it comprising the special stage. The latest stage was an 830km route to Wadi Ad Dawasir which included 395km of special stages. Here’s how things went down:

It was a strong start to the second half of Dakar 2022 for the Indian presence in the bikes category. Joaquim Rodrigues led the charge for Hero MotoSports with sixth in Stage 7 and eighth in Stage 8, while teammate Aaron Mare finished 22nd and 21st. Harith Noah also had a strong run, finishing 23rd and 26th. This leaves Rodrigues and Mare 15th and 17th in the overall standings, with Noah ranked 26th. 

Moving towards the top of the bikes category, Jose Ignacio Cornejo Florimo (Monster Energy Honda) came out on top in Stage 7, with Sam Sunderland (GasGas) taking top honors in Stage 8. The win extends Sunderlands lead in the overall standings ahead of Matthias Walkner (Red Bull KTM Racing) in second place. Adrien Van Beveren (Monster Energy Yamaha) rounds off the top three. 

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In the cars category, Sebastien Loeb (Bahrain Raid Xtreme) came out on top in Stage 7, with Mattias Ekstrom and Stephane Peterhansel making it a 1-2 finish for Team Audi Sport in Stage 8. In the overall standings, Nasser Al-Attiyah (Toyota Gazoo Racing) still leads ahead of Sebastien Loeb in second place, with Yazeed Al Rajhi (Overdrive Toyota) ranked third.  

Stage 9 of Dakar 2022, spanning 491km, out of which 287km will comprise the special stage, will loop around Wadi Ad Dawasir. While this route will have less sand sections than usual, competitors will be taking on mountains and canyon stretches.