Saood Variawa has won the eighth stage of Dakar Rally 2026 in a spectacular surprise. It is his second Dakar victory after stage 3 in 2025. The South African started 53 minutes after opener Mattias Ekström and won by just three seconds over compatriot Henk Lategan. Nasser Al-Attiyah retains the lead in the classification, his advantage over Ekström now stands at four minutes.
Henk Lategan thought he had won the stage, but Variawa surged past in the final section. The young Toyota Gazoo Racing SA driver climbed higher at each checkpoint. He was sixth at kilometre 382, third at kilometre 414, second at kilometre 448 and ultimately snatched victory with a three-second margin.
“Henk Lategan thought he had won stage 8 on the Dakar but he was trumped by a surprise comeback from his countryman Saood Variawa,” the organisation reported. “The young Toyota Gazoo Racing SA driver began the stage 53 minutes after the day’s opener and climbed up the leaderboard at each checkpoint.”
Thrilling to the finish
It was a nail-biting stage until the end. At kilometre 223, six cars were within 21 seconds. Ekström finished third at 29 seconds and Seth Quintero fourth at 37 seconds. Al-Attiyah finished fifth at 1:16 and Carlos Sainz sixth at 1:29.
The top ten was completed by Guillaume de Mévius (7th at 2:00), Sébastien Loeb (8th at 3:02), Nani Roma (9th at 3:38) and Brian Baragwanath (10th at 3:48).
Classification remains tight
Nasser Al-Attiyah retains the lead in the classification. Ekström is now second at 4:00 (including 0:30 penalty), 47 seconds closer than yesterday. Lategan climbed back to third place at 6:08 after his strong stage. Roma drops to fourth place at 9:37 and Sainz is fifth at 10:39 (including 1:10 penalty). The top ten are within 25 minutes of each other.
Lategan led for most of the stage
Lategan led the stage for a long time. At kilometre 267 he had a 30-second advantage over Ekström. At kilometre 339 that had grown to 49 seconds over the Swede. At kilometre 382 his advantage was just five seconds over Al-Attiyah, but at kilometre 414 he had a 1:49 lead again.
Variawa fought his way forward in the final section. The South African started far back but benefited from the tracks ahead of him and drove a perfect race to his second Dakar victory.
Dutch updates
Michiel Becx did not start after yesterday’s problems. Tim Coronel replaced a driveshaft and lost an hour in the process.He finished 62nd in 2:02:58.
Janus van Kasteren was the fastest Dutchman with the 42nd time in 51:31, making a strong comeback after yesterday’s problems. His teammate Roger Grouwels finished 44th in 56:31. Dave Klaassen recorded the 47th time at 1:05:19 and Maik Willems finished 50th at 1:14:45.
The battle for the title remains exciting with the top five within ten minutes and the top ten within 25 minutes. Tomorrow follows the ninth stage, the first part of the marathon stage to Bisha. The organisation has just announced that a pitstop will be added, promising a tough stage ahead.
