Dakar 2016: After Stage 8, War Intensifies Between Honda and KTM

With the clear intention of winning this time, Honda had all its hopes pinned on Paulo Goncalves for stage 8, after Barreda Bort retired post an unfortunate stage 7. The 766km-long stage, with a special stage of 393km, allowed the riders to set fast speeds, but also test their navigational capabilities.

After WP1, Honda's Goncalves was leading over Price by 33 seconds and fellow teammate, Benavides, by seven. Benavides, who was 12th fastest after CP1, regained his momentum soon and was leading Goncalves by 10 seconds and had a one minute and five second lead over Price.

After the second section of the special stage, Toby Price re-entered the leadership board, posting the best time at WP6 and registering a 29 second lead over Goncalves, and a one minute and 51 second lead over Benavides. Price kept increasing his lead, as registered at CP2 and CP3, making it a two minute and 47 second lead over Goncalves.

Australian rider, Toby Price, won stage 8 of Dakar 2016 hammering a mammoth lead of five minute and 17 seconds. This win also made him top the overall standings by two minutes and five seconds.

After the eventful stage 8, here are the overall top 10 riders of Dakar 2016:

1. Toby Price (KTM) - 27:28:56

2. Paulo Goncalves (Honda) - 27:31:01

3. Stefan Svitko (KTM) - 27:43:10

4. Pablo Quintanilla (Husqvarna) - 27:50:22

5. Kevin Benavides (Honda) 27:54:51

6. Antoine Meo (KTM) - 27:57:40

7. Helder Rodrigues (Yamaha) - 27:59:47

8. Farres Guell (KTM) - 28:06:28

9. Juan Pedrero Garcia (Sherco TVS) - 28:08:37

10. Alain Duclos (Sherco TVS) - 28:18:37