Rallying-Variawa wins Dakar eighth stage, Al-Attiyah retains overall lead

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Rallying - Dakar Rally - Prologue - Yanbu, Saudi Arabia - January 3, 2026 Toyota Gazoo Racing Sas Saood Variawa and Francois Cazalet in action REUTERS/Stephane Mahe

Jan 12 - Saood Variawa won the eighth stage of the Dakar Rally in a South African one-two with Henk Lategan on Monday as Nasser Al-Attiyah saw his overall lead cut to four minutes in the Saudi Arabian desert.

Dacia Sandriders driver Al-Attiyah finished fifth and one minute and 16 seconds behind 20-year-old Toyota SA driver Variawa, who beat factory entry Lategan by three seconds on the 483km loop around the southern city of Wadi Ad Dawasir.

The Qataris closest rival Mattias Ekstrom was third for Ford in the longest stage of the 48th edition of the rally.

Last years Dakar runner-up Lategan moved up to third overall, six minutes and eight seconds off the lead with five stages remaining before Saturdays finish in the Red Sea port of Yanbu.

The one-two was the fourth ever by South African drivers in the car category.

Fords Nani Roma and Carlos Sainz were fourth and fifth respectively.

We made a little mistake close to the finish and we lost around three minutes, said Al-Attiyah, a five times Dakar winner. But OK, I am really happy from the performance. We dont lose a lot of time. I think we did a good job.

Predictions that this years Dakar would be the closest battle yet were backed up by the top five in the standings, from three different