Dakar Quads, Stage 7: Bonetto scores first win for Honda, Patronellis maintain 1-2

Lucas Bonetto secured the first Dakar 2016 stage win for a Honda quad in a shortened Saturday run, as the Patronelli brothers preserved their advantage out front.

Bonetto, who sits three and a half hours behind rally leader Alejandro Patronelli after a troubled first week of the rally, was just sixth-quickest at the first waypoint - but managed to storm to the top of the timesheets by the end of the first stint.

The second stint, which was set to kick off after the riders had traversed the neutralised non-timed zone in the middle of the route, did not take place at all - with storms in the area raising river levels and forcing the organisers to cut the stage short.

As such, Bonetto's compatriot Pablo Copetti picked up second place, while Walter Nosiglia made it two Hondas in the top three.

The Patronelli brothers, who headed the stage at WP1, ended up completing the top five - with Alejandro extending his lead over Marcos to three minutes and a half.

Their nearest general standings rival Sergey Karyakin took seventh, with Jeremias Gonzalez slotting in in sixth.

Standings after Stage 7:

Pos.	No.	Rider	Bike	Time/Gap
1	253	Alejandro Patronelli	Yamaha	27h02m31s
2	252	Marcos Patronelli	Yamaha	3m36s
3	264	Sergei Karyakin	Yamaha	7m51s
4	254	Jeremias Gonzalez	Yamaha	26m03s
5	265	Alexis Hernandez	Yamaha	27m00s
6	256	Walter Nosiglia	Honda	30m59s
7	272	Pablo Copetti	Yamaha	50m55s
8	269	Kees Koolen	Honda	1h05m39s
9	257	Nelson Sanabria	Yamaha	1h13m20s
10	274	Brian Baragwanath	Yamaha	1h22m09s