Henk Lategan steps up to hand Toyota Gazoo Racing a 1-2 at Dakar's halfway mark

Henk Lategan and co-driver Brett Cummings handed the Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa team a well-earned 1-2 at the halfway point of the 2023 Dakar Rally. Finishing Stage 8 in fourth place, the South Africans moved into second place on the overall log behind teammates Nasser Al-Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel.

Al-Attiyah/Baumel finished the stage in second place, but still managed to extend their lead at the top of the times to 1hr 3min 46sec. Giniel de Villiers and Dennis Murphy, teammates to Lategan and Al-Attiyah and racing a GR DKR Hilux T1+, are fifth overall but 2hr 04min 20sec off Al-Attiyah's pace.

Speaking on his Stage 8 results, Lategan explained how he and Cummings navigated the rocky terrain that characterised the stage.

"We didn't really push. We found a good rhythm early on in the rocky sections, which was great as we know how easy it is to get a puncture," he said.

"We took it really easy in the rocky stuff, and then picked up the pace a bit in the dunes. I think it was a tough day for most competitors, so I'm glad that we managed to keep it clean on the stage today. I do think we have a little more pace left in the dunes, but Brett has been taking a beating, and we'll save that for when we need it."

Navigating the terrain

Bahrain Rain Xtreme's Sebastien Loen and co-driver Fabian Lurquin took top honours in Stage 8, crossing the finish line 2min 11sec quicker than Al-Attiyah/Baumel. It was a challenge for all competitors, but Loeb's buggy handled it slightly better than the Hilux.

However, while Al-Attiyah and Lategan had good runs on Stage 8, De Villiers and Murphy could not say the same. The crew suffered two punctures early in the stage, using both allocations of spare tyres in the T1+ class. It forced them to