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Tosha Schareina during the Dakar stage. EP
Schareina's Bold Move Four Days Before Dakar Finish

Schareina's Bold Move Four Days Before Dakar Finish

The Valencian rider finishes third in the eighth stage of the rally, gaining three and a half minutes on Sanders in a challenging day.

David Sánchez de Castro

Lunes, 13 de enero 2025, 16:05

A tough challenge awaits Daniel Sanders in the remaining four days of the Dakar. The Australian rider arrived in Riyadh still leading the overall standings, but with a reduced advantage compared to the start of the day in Al-Duwadimi. Tosha Schareina is determined to unsettle the KTM rider. The leading Spanish contender in the rally finished third after initially being declared the winner. The results were adjusted after bonuses and recalculations for Adrien van Beveren and Luciano Benavides, who stopped to assist Pablo Quintanilla following a serious accident at kilometre 133. The Chilean received help from his rivals for over half an hour, time that was later compensated, allowing both to regain their positions. The winner was the Argentine, ahead of the Frenchman, pushing Schareina to third place.

Regardless of winning the stage or not, it was an almost perfect day for Schareina in terms of his ambitions. The Honda rider knows he must challenge Sanders, who nonetheless managed to survive Monday's complex stage with dignity, where GPS and navigation issues were his main adversaries, aside from the stones and dunes. Only 11 minutes and 3 seconds separate the Spaniard from Sanders, a gap that can feasibly be closed.

"I tried to attack at the start, and after the refuelling, we rode together for a while. The first part was sandy, but with the rain, it was fun to ride. Then, we rode in the dust, which was not easy at all," Schareina summarised upon reaching the bivouac, confessing with a smile that he feels fully prepared for the challenging stage ahead on Tuesday, from Riyadh to Haradh.

While Schareina was the best Spanish news in the motorcycle category at the Dakar, one of the worst was Lorenzo Santolino. The Sherco rider from Salamanca was halted for over an hour due to an electrical issue and couldn't resume until it was fixed. He has dropped out of the top 10 in the overall standings and will find it difficult to regain his position.

Al-Attiyah falters

Henk Lategan holds fond memories of Riyadh, where he claimed his first stage victory in 2022. On Monday, for the second time in this edition, the South African arrived first, ahead of his teammate Guy Botterill and Mathieu Serradori, who secured Century's first podium in this edition.

This stage could be pivotal for Lategan and Toyota's aspirations. His lead over Yazeed Al-Rajhi is now five minutes and 41 seconds, not a substantial cushion but enough to force him to push in the coming days. Mattias Ekström, penalised for opening the stage, retains third place overall but falls nearly 29 minutes behind Lategan, requiring a miracle and hoping his pursuers don't complicate matters.

The first of those pursuers is Nasser Al-Attiyah. It was not a good Monday for the Qatari, who lost ground on a day he had high hopes for, now trailing Lategan by over 34 minutes. The four-time Dakar champion did not hide his disappointment upon stepping out of the Dacia Sandrider at the finish. "It was a very difficult stage. Opening was challenging. Yazeed (Al-Rajhi) was able to follow our tracks, and after overtaking us, we followed him before taking the lead in the dunes. There, once again, we struggled. I'm happy to have finished the day. We have four days ahead, and navigation promises to be a very difficult challenge," he remarked, resigned.

Strategies could be critical on Tuesday with the journey to Haradh. The 357-kilometre special stage over rocky terrain, ideal for attempting speed, could ruin all chances if risks are taken. Mistakes at this stage of the Dakar are doubly costly.

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