On the road to Uyuni, Ricky Brabec has won his first special on the Dakar at the end of a 174 kilometre sprint ridden at a devilish pace.

The Dakar left La Paz, the highest capital city in the world, and the warm welcome given by its inhabitants to head towards another world renowned venue, the Salar d’Uyuni salt flats. The stage was shortened due to the poor weather conditions, but once again boasted sandy tracks that were liable to create big gaps, including between the favourites. The seventh day especially rhymed with the marathon stage, which could leave its mark on competitors who have to toil alone on arrival at the bivouac to maintain their machines so harshly put to the test…

Ricky Brabec had been there or thereabouts for a while. Today, the official Honda rider was finally rewarded for his efforts and paid back the trust shown to him by HRC with triumph on stage seven, ahead of his experienced team-mate Paulo Gonçalves. In third, Sam Sunderland did all that was necessary to limit the damage and even increased his lead in the general standings over Pablo Quintanilla.

Six out of six: more open that ever, the Dakar 2017 has just witnessed a sixth stage winner in the bike race after as many completed stages from the start, with the success of Ricky Brabec. With six more riders in the top 8 in the general standings still seeking their first victory, perhaps the sequence is not yet finished…