2021 Dakar Stage 7 took place today after the traditional rest day at the halfway point of the rally. A 453 km timed section made up the competitive part of the event, which took place after 284 km that competitors had to cover before the special section. The stage went from the town of Ha’il to Sakaka. Click here to read our stage six report.

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It was overall leader Stephane Peterhansel (Mini) who set the early pace in 2021 Dakar Stage 7. The Frenchman seemed to be running away with the stage as he opened the gap to his nearest rivals. About halfway through the stage local driver Yazeed Al-Rajhi (Toyota Hilix) started to push hard and closed the gap somewhat. Carlos Sainz (Mini) also tried to gain some time on his teammate. Peterhansel’s early pace faded as the stage neared its end. Al-Rajhi closed down the Frenchman and overtook him on the timesheets.

The Saudi driver grabbed the stage lead with 100 km to go and didn’t look back. When he crossed the line he was almost one minute ahead of Peterhansel. This is Al-Rajhi’s first stage win of the 2021 Dakar Rally. Carlos Sainz finished third on the day, 1 min 15 sec adrift of the winner. Nasser Al-Attiyah (Hilux) came home 4th ahead of Al-Rajhi’s teammate Jakub Przygonski (Hilux). Peterhansel managed to extend his lead over Al-Attiyah by over two minutes. Al-Attiyah’s teammate Giniel de Villiers finished the stage 14th and now lies 8th overall.

General classification after 2021 Dakar Stage 7

  1. Stephane Peterhansel Mini                      26 hours 36 min 50 sec
  2. Nasser Al-Attiyah Toyota                 +7 min 53 sec
  3. Carlos Sainz Mini                      +41 min 06 sec
  4. Jakub Przygonski Toyota                 +1 hour 22 min 48 sec
  5. Nani Roma                BRX                       +1 hour 59 min 00 sec
  6. Vladimir Vasilyev      Mini                +2 hours +25 min 58 sec
  7. Sheik Khalid Al Qassimi    Peugeot      +2 hours 35 min 52 sec
  8. Giniel de Villiers        Toyota       +2 hours 59 min 36 sec
  9. Martin Prokop      Ford      +2 hours 59 min 50 sec
  10. C Lavielle        Optimus    +3 hours 22 min 54 sec

Check out all the week one highlights here: