The Briton won the 8th stage from Al Dawadimi to Wadi Ad Dawasir on Monday, displacing the French Adrien van Beveren from first place. Walkner is 3:45 minutes behind Sunderland in the overall standings and still has every chance.
On the section to Wadi Ad Dawasir with 395 km in the special stage, the Salzburg man came third. The KTM rider was missing 4:11 minutes on Sunderland (GasGas), with Chilean Pablo Quintanilla (Honda) in between. In the top field, the top four remain close together. Sunderland, Walkner, Van Beveren (Yamaha) and Quintanilla, which were replaced as number one for just one day, are within five and a half minutes. There are still four stages to go at this year’s Dakar with the finish line in Jeddah.
“It was a day with lots of dunes and off-road sections, a day where you could make up time,” said Walkner. He invested the maximum. However, due to minor problems with his motorcycle, he did not take full risks. “The starting position for tomorrow should be good. There are still four days left in which there is still a lot to do. Physically, I still feel very fit,” said the 2018 Dakar winner.
In the cars, the duo Nasser Al-Attiyah / Matthieu Baumel (Toyota) is heading towards overall victory. The Qatari and his French co-driver have almost 38 minutes of credit on their first pursuers, Sebastien Loeb / Fabian Lurquin (FRA / BEL). The day win on Monday went to the Swedes Matthias Ekström / Emil Bergkvist.
Source: Nachrichten
