Toyota's Henk Lategan showed devastating speed during the seventh stage of the Dakar Rally.
Waypoint after waypoint, he came through fastest, and even did more than enough to virtually take over the lead in the standings from Nasser Al-Attiyah.
Dakar braced itself for a modest coup, but Lategan's lead completely evaporated in the closing kilometres.
Instead of gaining seven minutes on Al-Attiyah, he actually lost a minute, even though Al-Attiyah wasn't among the stage's top riders.
The how and why of the lost lead will become clear later. Mattias Ekström will not care; he ran away with the day's victory and moved into second place at the expense of Lategan.
A little later, it was announced that Nani Roma's penalty, which he received during the fifth stage, had been dismissed.
This means that the Spaniard moves up to third place, offering a further blow to Lategan.
Overall Dakar Rally 2026 standings - cars
| # | Driver | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Nasser Al-Attiyah | Dacia | 28:10:15 |
| 2. | Mattias Ekström | Ford | +4:47 |
| 3. | Nani Roma | Ford | +7:15 |
| 4. | Henk Lategan | Toyota | +7:21 |
| 5. | Carlos Sainz | Ford | +10:26 |
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