Dakar Trucks, Stage 7: Nikolaev heads Kamaz 1-2, Versluis takes lead

2013 champion Nikolaev had set the pace until CP1 but subsequently lost ground, dropping as low as fifth before the neutralised zone.

However, he bounced back to reclaim the top spot in the day's timesheets by CP2 and confidently wrapped up the win.

Reigning winner Ayrat Mardeev completed a Kamaz 1-2 as the only driver to finish within a minute of Nikolaev.

In third place, Versluis enjoyed a strong day as he took the first spot overall by five and a half minutes after erstwhile leader Hans Stacey had hit trouble.

The 2007 champion lost time after having to change a tire and struggled for pace throughout the whole day to find himself 13m44s behind.

Gerard de Rooy completed the top four, which was only separated by 2m11s, with Andrey Karginov putting a third Kamaz into the top five.

Ton van Genugten and Federico Villagra, who had led before the mid-day break, lost around nine and 13 minutes respectively by the time the running concluded to end up in sixth and tenth respectively.

However, their issues looked minimal compared to Martin Kolomy, who is now out of contention, having crashed while stuck behind Dmitry Sotnikov’s truck.

De Rooy now stands as Versluis' nearest rival as Stacey and Villagra have fallen back to fifth and sixth overall respectively. The latter duo are now behind the Kamaz pair of Mardeev and Nikolaev, who appear to have shrugged off a slow start to the rally.

Standings after Stage 7