Dakar Rally stage 7 results: Honda leads Hero overall by one second

Stage 7 of the 2024 Dakar Rally saw Honda take another stage win, leading the classification overall by one second, while WRC champion Sebastien Loeb took the stage win in the cars category, closing in on Sainz Sr for the overall lead.

The 483km special stage 7 saw a lot of action in the desert as the competition intensified in the second half of the Dakar Rally. It was a tough day for navigation and the mixed terrain just added to the difficulties. And it’s not just the manufacturers, but also siblings fighting it out for the crown.

Stage 7 saw the Benavides brothers – Husqvarna’s Luciano Benavides and KTM’s Kevin Benavides – fight for second and third, which they settled with. However, the stage win went to Honda’s Nacho Cornejo. In the overall standings, Honda’s Ricky Brabec leads, however, only a second ahead of Hero’s Ross Branch, followed by two more Hondas.

In the cars category, the stage win was taken by Loeb, who is eyeing his first Dakar win. The Frenchman was followed by Lucas Moraes in second and Nasser Al-Attiyah in third, however, the defending champion is here to assist Loeb, as the chances of winning the title have disappeared.

In the overall standings, Carlos Sainz Sr still leads with a 19-minute advantage over Loeb, who is closing the gap, followed by Moraes, who is just 35 seconds behind the nine-time WRC champion. Also, Sainz is the only Team Audi driver at the top as Mattias Ekstrom has also fallen out of contention after facing mechanical issues on the stage.

India TVS Sherco rider, Harith Noah continues with his consistent performance this year, maintaining his third position in the overall standings in the Rally 2 class. Noah, in the overall ranking in the two-wheeler category, is in 13th, the best standing for any Indian rider to date.

2024 Dakar Rally Stage 7 results