My eighth stage as a member of the Africa Eco Race… it was hot, it was sandy, chaotic. Nothing at all like the simulations on Dakar Desert Rally. Of course, that’s pretty much the way it was for all of us, wasn’t it?

Tuesday’s stage was one filled with sand, soft sand, and every other type of sand in between. While not as exhausting as Stage 7, the terrain made it tough to navigate.

“There was a lot of sand, some of which was quite soft,” said Jacopo Cerutti. “Overall, it went well. I only got stuck once, but I was able to get going again straight away. Having started towards the back, I rode the whole race alone.”

After his hopes of a repeat faded away on Monday, Cerutti rebounded by finishing second in class and third overall. This came despite his navigation device shutting off 70 kilometers in and admitting that “my opponents found a bit more rhythm than me, especially in the last few kilometers.” One such opponent was Gautier Paulin, the only rider to set a time below five hours.

Even the organizers’ vehicles got stuck in the sand, necessitating service trucks to come scoop them out.

António Maio got stuck in a dune made from soft sand at KM 40, costing him significant time trying to get his Yamaha out. Even once that was over with, his clutch eventually broke as well.

Things got so weird that even Gerrit Zuurmond failed to win a stage in Truck for the first time. Franck Coquidé instead topped the day for the class, while Zuurmond was second and an hour and 26 minutes behind.

Nicolas Delencre opted to retire before the stage. Despite two stage wins, mechanical issues took him out of overall contention before the engine suffered a serious oil leak in Stage 7. Koen Wauters also missed out after a Monday rollover caused by a dune collapse led to terminal damage, while Anthony Neves did so because of a punctured radiator and bent handlebars.

Stage 8 winners

Bike

Class	Overall	Number	Rider	Team	Total Time
450cc	2	176	Jean-Loup Lepan	RC Assistance	5:00:06
Over 450cc	24	13	Alexandre Azinhais	Club Aventura Touareg	6:28:02
Over 650cc	1	21	Gautier Paulin	Ténéré Yamaha Rally Team	4:57:32
Electric	63	100	Cyril Forget	CFR Endurance	22:05:00
Quad	51	97	Alexis Varagne	Team Sénégal	9:43:04

Car

Class	Overall	Number	Driver	Team	Total Time
T1+	1	215	Christian Femont	Desert Foxx Racing	5:07:41
T1.1	4	200	Vincent Vroninks	Desert Lions Rally Team	5:29:34
T1.2	3	201	David Gérard	Nominoe Aventures / Les Fous du Volant / MD Rallye	5:26:27
Open	11	210	Cédric Feryn	Feryn Rally Raid Team	26:25:00

SSV

Class	Overall	Number	Driver	Team	Total Time
SSV	4	258	Călin Camărășan	Ace of Spades Racing	5:41:46
T3	1	299	Martin Benko	Norwit Racing	5:23:50
T4	2	271	Sander Derikx	QFF Racing	5:25:53

Truck

Class	Number	Driver	Team	Total Time
T5	407	Franck Coquidé	RT2R	5:33:04

Leaders after Stage 8

Bike

Class	Overall	Number	Rider	Team	Total Time
450cc	1	30	Thomas Marini	Solarys Factory Team	28:34:30
Over 450cc	23	13	Alexandre Azinhais	Club Aventura Touareg	35:04:42
Over 650cc	3	171	Kevin Gallas	Ténéré Yamaha Rally Team	28:47:39
Electric	81	100	Cyril Forget	CFR Endurance	157:53:40
Quad	80	97	Alexis Varagne	Team Sénégal	91:45:49

Car

Class	Overall	Number	Driver	Team	Total Time
T1+	7	207	Tomáš Ouředníček	Toyota Gazoo Racing Czech	29:52:02
T1.1	6	200	Vincent Vroninks	Desert Lions Rally Team	29:47:25
T1.2	1	205	Pol van Pollaert	Desert Foxx Racing	27:49:51
Open	12	210	Cédric Feryn	Feryn Rally Raid Team	72:37:30

SSV

Class	Overall	Number	Driver	Team	Total Time
SSV	4	251	Pierre Lafay	Team Gazzafond	31:56:42
T3	3	299	Martin Benko	Norwit Racing	31:30:59
T4	1	275	Martijn van den Broek	Van Ham Racing / QFF Racing	30:52:15

Truck

Class	Number	Driver	Team	Total Time
T5	400	Gerrit Zuurmond	Rainbow Truck Team	36:53:45

Featured image credit: Aventure Girousse