Heavy rains and an overflowed river meant yet another route modification at Dakar Rally 2017. Tuesday’s leg was eventually divided in two parts with a 176-kilometre liaison at the border between Bolivia and Argentina.
Taking the vehicles through streams and dunes, the second half of this year’s marathon stage climbed up to 4,400m of altitude and saw the French battle in the car category intensify.
Car
Stéphane Peterhansel was the overall leader at the beginning of the day. The 12-time Dakar winner opened the road, but had to stop for several minutes after the 110th km, allowing for a fast Sébastien Loeb to overtake him before the first passage control.
This is Loeb’s third win since the start in Asuncion. With Peterhansel finishing 3’35 behind in Salta, he is the new overall leader.
Completing Tuesday’s Team Peugeot podium, Cyril Despres took third, 5’13 behind Loeb.
CARS – @s_peterhansel knows how tough it will be to stop an all fired up Loeb. / Peterhansel sabe que será difícil vencer a Loeb. #Dakar2017 pic.twitter.com/YWiCDDn7Pp
— DAKAR RALLY (@dakar) 10 January 2017
Cars overall classification after Stage 8
| Pos. | N° | Name | Mark | Time | variation | Penalty |
| 1. | 309 | LOEB (FRA)
ELENA (MCO) |
PEUGEOT | 20:10:05 | – | – |
| 2. | 300 | PETERHANSEL (FRA)
COTTRET (FRA) |
PEUGEOT | 20:11:43 | 00:01:38 | – |
| 3. | 307 | DESPRES (FRA)
CASTERA (FRA) |
PEUGEOT | 20:27:22 | 00:17:17 | – |
| 4. | 305 | ROMA (ESP)
HARO BRAVO (ESP) |
TOYOTA | 20:33:41 | 00:23:36 | – |
| 5. | 303 | HIRVONEN (FIN)
PERIN (FRA) |
MINI | 21:03:46 | 00:53:41 | – |
| 6. | 302 | DE VILLIERS (ZAF)
VON ZITZEWITZ (DEU) |
TOYOTA | 21:31:49 | 01:21:44 | – |
| 7. | 308 | TERRANOVA (ARG)
SCHULZ (DEU) |
MINI | 21:36:52 | 01:26:47 | – |
| 8. | 316 | PRZYGONSKI (POL)
COLSOUL (BEL) |
MINI | 21:52:23 | 01:42:18 | – |
| 9. | 314 | GARAFULIC (CHL)
PALMEIRO (PRT) |
MINI | 22:53:02 | 02:42:57 | – |
| 10. | 318 | DUMAS (FRA)
GUEHENNEC (FRA) |
PEUGEOT | 23:19:22 | 03:09:17 | – |
Bike
Joan Barreda is the first bike rider to take two stage wins this year, 3’51 ahead of second-placed Matthias Walkner. The KTM rider only preceded his teammate Sam Sunderland by three seconds, allowing the Brit to gain on his rivals in the overall standings.
Bikes overall classification after Stage 8
| Pos. | N° | Name | Mark | Time | variation | Penalty |
| 1. | 14 | SUNDERLAND (GBR) | KTM | 22:01:08 | – | – |
| 2. | 3 | QUINTANILLA (CHL) | HUSQVARNA | 22:22:06 | 00:20:58 | – |
| 3. | 6 | VAN BEVEREN (FRA) | YAMAHA | 22:29:57 | 00:28:49 | – |
| 4. | 16 | WALKNER (AUT) | KTM | 22:35:22 | 00:34:14 | 00:05:00 |
| 5. | 8 | FARRES GUELL (ESP) | KTM | 22:35:32 | 00:34:24 | – |
| 6. | 23 | DE SOULTRAIT (FRA) | YAMAHA | 22:51:18 | 00:50:10 | 00:07:00 |
| 7. | 31 | RENET (FRA) | HUSQVARNA | 23:09:17 | 01:08:09 | – |
| 8. | 17 | GONCALVES (PRT) | HONDA | 23:09:42 | 01:08:34 | 00:48:20 |
| 9. | 11 | BARREDA BORT (ESP) | HONDA | 23:12:01 | 01:10:53 | 01:01:00 |
| 10. | 27 | RODRIGUES (PRT) | HERO SPEEDBRAIN | 23:37:08 | 01:36:00 | – |
Truck
On the truck front, Martin van den Brink scored his second stage win. The Dutchman beat Iveco’s Federico Villagra by 17 seconds, followed by Eduard Nikolaev in his Kamaz truck. His fellow Russian Dmitry Sotnikov retook the overall lead.
Trucks overall classification after Stage 8:
| Pos. | N° | Name | Mark | Time | variation | Penalty |
| 1. | 513 | SOTNIKOV (RUS)
AKHMADEEV (RUS) LEONOV (RUS) |
KAMAZ | 17:52:20 | – | – |
| 2. | 505 | NIKOLAEV (RUS)
YAKOVLEV (RUS) RYBAKOV (RUS) |
KAMAZ | 17:54:06 | 00:01:46 | – |
| 3. | 500 | DE ROOY (NLD)
TORRALLARDONA (ESP) RODEWALD (POL) |
IVECO | 17:54:40 | 00:02:20 | – |
| 4. | 502 | VILLAGRA (ARG)
YACOPINI (ARG) TORLASCHI (ARG) |
IVECO | 18:21:26 | 00:29:06 | – |
| 5. | 510 | DE BAAR (NLD)
ROESINK (NLD) DE GRAAFF (NLD) |
RENAULT TRUCKS | 18:37:54 | 00:45:34 | – |
