Urvo Männama, Risto Lepik still 11th after Dakar Rally stage seven

Estonian rally drivers Urvo Männama and Risto Lepik (Overdrive Racing) remain in 11th place in the prestigious Dakar rally after the seventh stage.
The pair, driving a Toyota GR DKR Hilux EVO pickup, also posted the 11th-fastest time on stage seven (17:10 behind the stage winner).
They are now less than 20 minutes behind 10th placed driver, South African Brian Baragwanath (Century), and had dropped to 12th before the weekend.
Männama said: "The seventh stage went well, there were no major issues."
There was a tricky navigation section, but we didn't lose time there, and everything else went smoothly," he continued.
"The route was diverse, with a bit of everything. It was a beautiful stage," Männama added.
The stage was shortened to 418 kilometers due to a navigation error in the roadbook and an unexpected rain shower, which also led to adjustments in start times for medical helicopters.
The race's overall leader Henk Lategan saw his lead over main rival Yazeed Al-Rajhi shrink to just 21 seconds.
The Dakar Rally continues Monday with the eighth stage, covering the route from Al Duwadimi to Riyadh (487 km).
Ahead of this, Männama said: "Tomorrow we have another early start and almost 500 kilometers of stage ahead. We're starting to feel a bit tired — it's been a long race. But the goal is to keep pushing forward in the same way."
Formerly the Paris-Dakar rally, the present-day race no longer follows a route across the Sahara, finishing in the Senegalese capital, but since 2020 has been held in Saudi Arabia. Previous editions were also run in South America, after security concerns prompted the change of venue from 2008 onward.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte