Dakar Rally drama for Toyota Gazoo Racing W2RC

• Action resumed with 545-mile Stage 7 on Sunday
• Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings finish 13^th having led for most of the distance
• Toby Price and Armand Monleón narrowly miss out on a podium spot
• Seth Quintero and Andrew Short overcome early start position to finish seventh

Toyota Gazoo Racing W2RC (TGR W2RC) maintained their challenge for overall honours on a dramatic and demanding Dakar Rally Stage 7 on Sunday as the event entered its second week.

After a rest day on Saturday, the battle resumed at high speed over a 545-mile route, which took crews south from Riyadh to Wadi ad Dawasir. The 285-mile timed section posed a navigational challenge through the dunes, before rocky surfaces, vegetation and dust further contributed to the difficulties facing crews.

Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings dominated the stage for more than 245 miles and looked set for a comfortable win to reclaim the overall lead in their No202 DKR GR Hilux. But a damper issue caused by an impact in the final kilometres ended those hopes and they had to drive slowly to the end, finishing in 13^th place.

Having started the day second overall, Lategan and Cummings are now fourth. The gap to leaders Nasser Al-Attiyah and Fabian Lurquin (Dacia Sandriders) increased only slightly to seven minutes, however, so their fight for victory continues, with six stages, including more than 1,200 miles of competitive action, still to run.

Toby Price and Armand Monleón challenged the top three from the opening miles and kept up the pace throughout in their No204 DKR GR Hilux. They missed their first podium of the rally by just six seconds, finishing fourth for the second consecutive stage, although they closed in on the overall top 10 and are now 12^th.

Seth Quintero and Andrew Short overcame the difficulty of running third on the road to drive in the top six for most of the day. The No203 DKR GR Hilux eventually finished seventh, only 37 seconds away from the podium. However, the pair continued to recover time lost to punctures in the first week and are now 18^th overall.

Mattias Ekström and Emil Bergkvist won Stage 7 for Ford Racing ahead of Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa’s Joao Ferreira and Filipe Palmeiro. Mitch Guthrie and Kellon Walch (Ford Racing) were third.

Team quotes

Henk Lategan: “That wasn’t a good result in the end, but it had been going well. We had strong speed and were pushing nicely, despite having to turn around after going into the wrong canyon. Unfortunately, with 30km to go we broke the right rear damper going over a small bump and a dip. It didn’t feel like a massive impact, but the damper snapped. That was the stage effectively over for us. We stopped to replace the damper, but it had also damaged a driveshaft, an anti-roll bar and the radiator, so we had to limp to the end. Hopefully we can have some better days and get back in front.”

Seth Quintero: “It was a really good day for us. It was a super-fast stage, which was a bit tricky for navigation, particularly being one of the first cars out there. Considering we started third on stage, I’m happy to finish in the top 10. The car is performing very well, even with a full load of fuel. It was tough today but tomorrow will be even tougher. We’ll be rested and ready to keep fighting.”

Toby Price: “Stage 7 went well for us. We started fourth and finished fourth again, so not bad. We had to drive through some vegetation at one stage, which caused a bit of panel damage. But the DKR GR Hilux is super strong so it’s all good. We seemed to hit our marks well today and it is nice to have two consistent stages. That’s been the aim since the beginning. I’m still enjoying every minute in the car and Armand is doing an amazing job, so we’ll be back at it tomorrow.”

Dakar Rally – Provisional Stage 7 result*

Dakar Rally – Provisional standings after Stage 7*

*Correct at time of publication

ENDS