DAKAR 2023 January 7 | Stage 7 | Riyadh – Al Duwadimi | Distance – Total/Special: 528km/333km
– While Stage Seven was cancelled for bikes and quads, there was no break for the competitors on four wheels as cars, trucks and side-by-sides tackled the challenging route.
– There was no change at the front of the car race as defending champion Al-Attiyah and co-driver Mathieu Baumel hold an advantage of more than an hour over their closest competitor. The Qatari driver, 52, said: “This was really not an easy stage. We were really pushing a lot from the beginning. We lost a few minutes but we took care to put ourselves in a good position for tomorrow.”
– It was another good day for Baciuška of the Red Bull Can-Am Factory Team as the Lithuanian and his co-driver Oriol Mena secured a third stage win and now sit top of the overall T4 rankings.
– There was also a hat-trick of stage wins for the Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team USA presented by BFGoodrich thanks to American Guthrie Jr. and co-driver Kellon Walch. The duo took the win after some tight racing against team-mates Seth Quintero/Dennis Zenz and race leaders Guillaume De Mevius/François Cazalet.
– Tomorrow sees the bikes and quads rejoin the rally for Stage Eight. A 345km timed special stage will be the final business of this Dakar’s first week.
