2017 Dakar Rally - Stage 7: Victory for USA's Ricky Brabec

After seeing Saturday’s stage cancelled, and with Sunday set on the schedule as a rest day, the 2017 Dakar Rally returned to racing-proper on Monday, with Stage 7.

Today’s special was originally conceived to be 322km long, but again the weather played a factor, and the timed section was cut down to just 160km. Sand dunes were the order of the day, which posed a challenge to some of the riders, both in navigation and time management.

For Honda, the day was very good, with American Ricky Brabec taking the day, followed closely his teammate Paulo Gonçalves. Sam Sunderland finished the day third, allowing him to maintain his overall lead in the standings. With three Hondas in the Top 5 though, the day truly goes to HRC.

Brabec’s win also continues the trend of a different rider winning each stage thus far of the 2017 Dakar Rally, an unusual circumstance in a race that usually sees a rider or two consistently rising above the rest of the field.

On that note, Xavier de Soultrait continues to impress on his Yamaha, fifth for the day, sixth overall, and still in the hunt for the overall win. Yamaha also can rely on Adrien van Beveren, who sits third overall, just behind Husqvarna’s Pablo Qunitanilla.

With three manufacturers in the Top 3, there will be a great deal of intrigue for the Dakar trophy, as we head into Argentina.

Monday night starts the marathon stage, meaning that only competitors can work on their machines in order to prep for Tuesday’s Stage 8. Without the help of their mechanics, we can expect some shake-up in Tuesday’s results from bike failures.

Top 15 from Stage 7 – La Paz to Uyuni:

Pos.	Rider	Nation	Team	Bike	Time
1	BRABEC Ricky	USA	Monster Energy Honda Team	Honda	2:02’05
2	GONCALVES Paulo	POR	Monster Energy Honda Team	Honda	+1’44
3	SUNDERLAND Sam	GBR	Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team	KTM	+4’43
4	BARREDA Joan	SPA	Monster Energy Honda Team	Honda	+6’51
5	DE SOULTRAIT Xavier	FRA	Viltais Racing Team HFP	Yamaha	+7’10
6	METGE Michael	FRA	Monster Energy Honda Team	Honda	+8’21
7	SMITH Todd	AUS	Duust Rally Team	KTM	+9’39
8	WALKNER Matthias	AUT	Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team	KTM	+9’59
9	QUINTANILLA Pablo	CHI	Husqvarna Factory Rally Team	Husqvarna	+10’28
10	NOSIGLIA Walter	BOL	MEC Team Nosiglia	Honda	+10’39
11	VAN BEVEREN Adrien	FRA	Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team	Yamaha	+10’52
12	FARRES Gerard	SPA	Himoinsa Team	KTM	+12’22
13	RENET Pierre-Alexandre	FRA	Husqvarna Factory Rally Team	Husqvarna	+12’35
14	METGE Adrien	FRA	Sherco TVS Rally Factory	Sherco	+13’05
15	TOMICZEK Adam	POL	KTM Orlen Rally Team	KTM	+13’07

Provisional Top 15 Overall Standings for the 2017 Dakar Rally

Pos.	Rider	Nation	Team	Bike	Time
1	SUNDERLAND Sam	GBR	Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team	KTM	17:28’53
2	QUINTANILLA Pablo	CHI	Husqvarna Factory Rally Team	Husqvarna	+17’45
3	VAN BEVEREN Adrien	FRA	Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team	Yamaha	+22’16
4	FARRES Gerard	SPA	Himoinsa Team	KTM	+28’36
5	WALKNER Matthias	AUT	Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team	KTM	+34’17
6	DE SOULTRAIT Xavier	FRA	Viltais Racing Team HFP	Yamaha	+38’33
7	RENET Pierre-Alexandre	FRA	Husqvarna Factory Rally Team	Husqvarna	+1:02’37
8	GONCALVES Paulo	POR	Monster Energy Honda Team	Honda	+1:05’22
9	BARREDA Joan	SPA	Monster Energy Honda Team	Honda	+1:14’47
10	DUPLESSIS Martín	ARG	Asistencia Med	KTM	+1:15’36
11	RODRIGUES Joaquim	POR	Hero Motorsports Team Rally	Hero	+1:23’18
12	CAIMI Franco	ARG	Honda South America Rally Team	Honda	+1:38’43
13	RODRIGUES Helder	POR	Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team	Yamaha	+1:43’09
14	BRABEC Ricky	USA	Monster Energy Honda Team	Honda	+1:44’44
15	SMITH Todd	AUS	Duust Rally Team	KTM	+1:46’55