It wouldn’t be the 2026 Africa Eco Race if the weather wasn’t refusing to comply. At least Monday’s situation didn’t shorten the stage.

The bivouac in Chami woke up to huge sandstorms that Stage 7. Since it was the only leg with no liaison, everyone had to go through the storm as the Selective Section began immediately.

“The track had a lot of camel grass and soft sand, and there were a lot of small dunes. The terrain led to more consumption than we expected and we reached the gas station with only about a liter of fuel,” explained Monday T3 winner Martin Benko. “In addition, there was a sandstorm in the morning and the road was almost invisible, so we were trying to look for the ideal line for the first 30 or 40 kilometers. We’re not complaining, though; everyone had the same conditions.”

Jacopo Cerutti probably would’ve liked for the mechanical gremlins to get swept away in the sand. Instead, they and some navigation issues caused him to finish a disappointing tenth for Over 650cc bikes and 21st overall. He consequently fell to sixth overall and over an hour behind leader Kevin Gallas, leaving his hopes of a repeat on thin ice.

His teammate Marco Menichi, meanwhile, was fourth in class with Aprilia’s other rider Francesco Montanari ninth.

“The heat is starting to get really intense, especially during the stage in the middle of the desert where temperatures reach 38° C,” Menichini commented. Riders like Frédéric Richter and Nicholas Charlier also reported feeling dehydrated or worn down from the heat.

Gallas led a Yamaha 1–2 with Mike Wiedemann just 18 seconds behind.

It’s the second closest margin of victory after Stage 6’s 0:08 for the auto win. That winner Tomáš Ouředníček’s luck ran out on Monday as he struggled with navigation and missed some waypoints, then ran out of gas about 15 kilometers before the finish. Ouředníček surmised this was either because of him getting lost or the increased fuel consumption while going across very fine sand.

“You can’t imagine that. You really don’t want it,” Ouředníček said. “If the engine isn’t running, you don’t have power steering. We didn’t even see the truck in the dust five meters in front of us, so it was truly a death ride.”

Martijn van den Broek topped T4 for his first class stage win of the race; he had signed with QFF Racing as a last-minute entry. Benko won T3 despite contracting the flu on Sunday.

“I took antibiotics and felt much better today,” Benko remarked.

Gerrit Zuurmond was the only truck to complete the stage in time, avoiding the dreaded flat time of 11:30:00.

Stage 7 winners

Bike

Class	Overall	Number	Rider	Team	Total Time
450cc	3	30	Thomas Marini	Solarys Factory Team	6:01:47
Over 450cc	36	13	Alexandre Azinhais	Club Aventura Touareg	7:55:23
Over 650cc	1	171	Kevin Gallas	Ténéré Yamaha Rally Team	5:53:58
Electric	76	100	Cyril Forget	CFR Endurance	11:30:00
Quad	74	97	Alexis Varagne	Team Sénégal	11:30:00

Car

Class	Overall	Number	Driver	Team	Total Time
T1+	4	215	Christian Femont	Desert Foxx Racing	6:05:04
T1.1	6	200	Vincent Vroninks	Desert Lions Rally Team	6:09:44
T1.2	1	205	Pol van Pollaert	Desert Foxx Racing	5:24:25
Open	11	208	Éric Coquidé	RT2R	11:30:00

SSV

Class	Overall	Number	Driver	Team	Total Time
SSV	1	251	Pierre Lafay	Team Gazzafond	5:31:46
T3	3	299	Martin Benko	Norwit Racing	5:52:30
T4	2	275	Martijn van den Broek	Van Ham Racing / QFF Racing	5:51:06

Truck

Class	Number	Driver	Team	Total Time
T5	400	Gerrit Zuurmond	Rainbow Truck Team	8:43:50

Leaders after Stage 7

Bike

Class	Overall	Number	Rider	Team	Total Time
450cc	2	30	Thomas Marini	Solarys Factory Team	23:31:23
Over 450cc	27	13	Alexandre Azinhais	Club Aventura Touareg	28:36:40
Over 650cc	1	171	Kevin Gallas	Ténéré Yamaha Rally Team	23:25:11
Electric	88	100	Cyril Forget	CFR Endurance	133:18:40
Quad	87	97	Alexis Varagne	Team Sénégal	64:17:45

Car

Class	Overall	Number	Driver	Team	Total Time
T1+	3	215	Christian Femont	Desert Foxx Racing	23:15:13
T1.1	6	200	Vincent Vroninks	Desert Lions Rally Team	24:17:51
T1.2	1	205	Pol van Pollaert	Desert Foxx Racing	22:19:31
Open	12	210	Cédric Feryn	Feryn Rally Raid Team	43:57:30

SSV

Class	Overall	Number	Driver	Team	Total Time
SSV	1	251	Pierre Lafay	Team Gazzafond	24:25:32
T3	5	299	Martin Benko	Norwit Racing	26:07:09
T4	2	273	William Grarre	TRC	25:20:40

Truck

Class	Number	Driver	Team	Total Time
T5	400	Gerrit Zuurmond	Rainbow Truck Team	29:54:35

Featured image credit: Team Aventure 79