Following a day’s rest, Day 8 of competitively rallying took place on Sunday.

Carlos Sainz continued to extend his lead from his Volkswagen team-mates. Joan Roma is Mitsubishi’s main hope for honours as we enter the second week. The going gets tough on Monday as the rally enters the Atacama Desert. 116 Cars, 62 trucks and 137 (completely insane!) bikes remain in the rally.

Overall positions after Stage Eight:

Pos Driver Car Time 1.  Carlos Sainz         Volkswagen  27h29:59 2.  Giniel de Villiers   Volkswagen  +  10:57 3.  Mark Miller          Volkswagen  +  18:05 4.  Joan Roma            Mitsubishi  +  33:31 5.  Robby Gordon         Hummer      +1h32:01 6.  Krzysztof Holowczyc  Nissan      +2h57:05 7.  Ivar Erik Tollefsen  Nissan      +3h25:32 8.  Dieter Depping       Volkswagen  +4h51:45 9.  Rene Kuipers         BMW         +5h33:4310.  Tonnie van Deijne    Mitsubishi  +5h57:49

– Andy Blackmore