Lategan/Cummings win Dakar stage 8; extend lead for Toyota Gazoo Racing

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing recorded a fifth stage victory on Monday 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.

Another great day for #TGR. Henk Lategan drove superbly to extend his overall lead at the top of the standings. He once again leads the rally by more than 5 minutes! His teammates played an important part and will continue to support him over the remaining stages. Here's what… pic.twitter.com/juxAyRRHl9

— Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa (@TGRSouthAfrica) January 13, 2025

In the end, it was Lategan/Cummings who set the benchmark time, capitalising on their thirteenth-placed starting position for the day, and completing the tough stage just 1min 47sec clear of their teammates, Guy Botterill and Dennis Murphy.

Lategan, despite a few hiccups during the stage, said he was pleased with the day overall. "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,” he said. “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," he added.

📸 Pic of the day 🤩 powered by @CatrionGlobal #Dakar2025 #DakarInSaudi

📸 صورة اليوم 🤩 مقدّمة لكم من قبل @CatrionGlobal #داكار2025 #داكار_السعودية2025

📸 A.S.O. | @FlorentGooden | DPPI Images pic.twitter.com/mAWvXnJXb0

— DAKAR RALLY (@dakar) January 13, 2025

Botterill/Murphy acted as support for the leading GR Hilux EVO on Sunday, but were free to push for a stage win on Monday, 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 Monday’s performance.

“Fantastic day, really happy with the pace that we were running,” said Botterill. “We started a bit far back, we had a lot of cars to overtake and we had a lot of dust right until about halfway and then we got into a bit of clean air. Unfortunately, about 150 km to the end, we got a slow puncture so we had to take it a little bit easier. All in all, for us to be second and Henk to be first ... We couldn't ask for a better position for us 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.

Seth Quintero said that he had to modify his strategy after a poor start. “Yeah, stage today was good. It was a long one for sure. I wasn't driving too well this morning, to be honest. We saw Yazeed in the speed zone and understood that he's fighting for the win, so pulled over for about a minute and then hopped in behind him and locked on to him for the rest of the day.

“He really picked up the pace. Made it all the way to the front and we passed everybody but Yazeed, and then had a guy come back by us after passing him, and he broke our windshield, which was frustrating. So, things happen like that, I guess. But yeah, other than that, it was a good day, a good start position for tomorrow and we made up a lot of time in the overall,” he added.

Lucas Moraes and Armand Monleon won Stage 7 on Sunday, and had to open Monday'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.

MotorPress