After stage 6 was cancelled due to bad weather on Saturday, the next day was a rest day for the boys but they still had to travel to Lapaz to serve the resting period. Stage 7 thus started from Lapaz to Uyuni but was also shortened due to bad weather. This stage also marked the first marathon stage.
Ambiance crash during the Dakar 2017 Paraguay Bolivia Argentina, Etape 7 – Stage 7, La Paz – Uyuni on January 9, 2017 in Bolivia – Photo Frederic Le Floc’h / DPPI
Peugeot continues to dominate the Dakar Rally 2017 with Stephane Peterhansel winning stage 7 ahead of Sebastien Loeb by only 48s. Toyota’s Giniel de Villiers rounded off the top three with Mini’s Mikko Hirvonen coming home fourth. Peterhansel and Loeb now have two stage wins each from this year’s rally, Mr. Dakar still leads the overall standings but nothing is stopping Loeb from clinching this year’s victory.
The bikes had a new winner on this stage, Honda rider Ricky Brabec who after many trials to enter the top three managed to best out everyone by finishing first. Paulo Gonçalves gave Honda a double victory by finishing second while British rider Sam Sunderland finished third to retain his lead in the overall classification.
Ambiance crash during the Dakar 2017 Paraguay Bolivia Argentina, Etape 7 – Stage 7, La Paz – Uyuni on January 9, 2017 in Bolivia – Photo Frederic Le Floc’h / DPPI
137 HEMBERT OLIVIER (fra) YAMAHA HEMBERT OLIVIER action during the Dakar 2017 Paraguay Bolivia Argentina, Etape 7 – Stage 7, La Paz – Uyuni on January 9, 2017 in Bolivia – Photo Florent Gooden / DPPI
259 LIPAROTI CAMELIA (fra) YAMAHA QUADSSVMAG.COM MAXXIS action during the Dakar 2017 Paraguay Bolivia Argentina, Etape 7 – Stage 7, La Paz – Uyuni on January 9, 2017 in Bolivia – Photo Florent Gooden / DPPI
305 ROMA NANI (esp) HARO BRAVO ALEX (esp) TOYOTA OVERDRIVE TOYOTA HILUX action during the Dakar 2017 Paraguay Bolivia Argentina, Etape 7 – Stage 7, La Paz – Uyuni on January 9, 2017 in Bolivia – Photo Florent Gooden / DPPI
300 PETERHANSEL STEPHANE (fra) COTTRET JEAN PAUL (fra) PEUGEOT TEAM PEUGEOT TOTAL 3008 DKR action during the Dakar 2017 Paraguay Bolivia Argentina, Etape 7 – Stage 7, La Paz – Uyuni on January 9, 2017 in Bolivia – Photo Florent Gooden / DPPI
Ambiance during the Dakar 2017 Paraguay Bolivia Argentina, Etape 7 – Stage 7, La Paz – Uyuni on January 9, 2017 in Bolivia – Photo DPPI
335 BERNARD ERIC (fra) VIGNEAU ALEXANDRE (fra) BUGGY SODICARS RACING action during the Dakar 2017 Paraguay Bolivia Argentina, Etape 7 – Stage 7, La Paz – Uyuni on January 9, 2017 in Bolivia – Photo DPPI
308 TERRANOVA ORLANDO (arg) SCHULZ ANDREAS (deu) MINI X-RAID MINI JOHN COOPER WORKS RALLY TEAM action during the Dakar 2017 Paraguay Bolivia Argentina, Etape 7 – Stage 7, La Paz – Uyuni on January 9, 2017 in Bolivia – Photo DPPI
302 DE VILLIERS GINIEL (zaf) VON ZITZEWITZ DIRK (deu) TOYOTA TOYOTA GAZOO RACING SA HILUX action during the Dakar 2017 Paraguay Bolivia Argentina, Etape 7 – Stage 7, La Paz – Uyuni on January 9, 2017 in Bolivia – Photo DPPI
279 VITSE SIMON (fra) YAMAHA AL DESERT action during the Dakar 2017 Paraguay Bolivia Argentina, Etape 7 – Stage 7, La Paz – Uyuni on January 9, 2017 in Bolivia – Photo DPPI
14 SUNDERLAND SAM (gbr) KTM RED BULL KTM FACTORY TEAM action during the Dakar 2017 Paraguay Bolivia Argentina, Etape 7 – Stage 7, La Paz – Uyuni on January 9, 2017 in Bolivia – Photo Florent Gooden / DPPI
08 FARRES GUELL GERARD (esp) KTM HIMOINSA DAKAR TEAM action during the Dakar 2017 Paraguay Bolivia Argentina, Etape 7 – Stage 7, La Paz – Uyuni on January 9, 2017 in Bolivia – Photo Florent Gooden / DPPI
270 GALLEGO GUSTAVO (arg) YAMAHA GUSTAVO GALLEGO COMPETICION action during the Dakar 2017 Paraguay Bolivia Argentina, Etape 7 – Stage 7, La Paz – Uyuni on January 9, 2017 in Bolivia – Photo Florent Gooden / DPPI
Sergey Karyakin won the stage in the quads category and now leads the overall standings, thanks to his competitive finishes in the last six stages which saw him end up within the top seven in every stage. Dmitry Sotnikov won in the truck category for Kamaz and now sits two minutes behind leader Gerard de Rooy of Iveco.
Today, the competitors will leave Bolivia and head back into Argentina rallying from Uyuni to Salta, an overall distance of 892 km. Full stage highlights will follow soon.
