Stage 7 Winner : 306 - Nasser Al-Attiyah/Timo Gottschalk - Volkswagen Race Touareg 2Stage 7 - January 8, 2010 : Iquique to Antofagasta - Connection 37 km/ Special 600 km/ Connection 4 km
After seven of the 14 stages of the 2010 Dakar Rally Volkswagen maintains a commanding advantage. Three Race Touareg cars with TDI power are running in front in the overall standings before the rest day. Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz (E/E) are leading the world's toughest rally with 11m 03s ahead of their team-mates Nasser Al-Attiyah/Timo Gottschalk (Q/D) and 22m 06s in front of Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/ZA).
Nasser Al-Attiyah managed an outstanding feat on the seventh stage: From Iquique to Antofagasta in the Chilean Atacama desert the Volkswagen factory driver from Qatar commandingly won the 600-kilometre, and so far longest, stage. After a nail-biting duel and the lead changing many times he arrived 3m 29s earlier at the finish than Stéphane Peterhansel/Jean Paul Cottret (F/F) in the X-Raid-BMW. On the first 80 kilometres the two drivers had been snatching individual seconds from each other. For Al-Attiyah it was the second stage win after his exploit on the second day of the rally.
Overall leader : 303 - Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz - Volkswagen Race Touareg 2Carlos Sainz finished the stage that first consisted of dunes, then a surface of "salar” salt crystal blocks and, ultimately, quicker, stony sections in third place. Mark Miller took the fourth position. Last year's winners Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz (ZA/D) finished the stage before the rest day in sixth place after two punctures but, due to previous delays, are ranking 4h 31m behind the front runners.
Stage 7 Result : January 8, 2010 : Iquique to Antofagasta - Connection 37 km/ Special 600 km/ Connection 4 km
Pl | No. | Driver | Car | Time | Variation | Penalty |
| 1 | 306 | AL-ATTIYAH (QAT) GOTTSCHALK (DEU) | VOLKSWAGEN | 05:41:29 | 00:00:00 | |
| 2 | 301 | PETERHANSEL (FRA) COTTRET (FRA) | BMW | 05:44:58 | 00:03:29 | |
| 3 | 303 | SAINZ (ESP) CRUZ (ESP) | VOLKSWAGEN | 05:45:50 | 00:04:21 | |
| 4 | 305 | MILLER (USA) PITCHFORD (ZAF) | VOLKSWAGEN | 05:50:09 | 00:08:40 | |
| 5 | 307 | CHICHERIT (FRA) THOERNER (CHE) | BMW | 05:57:02 | 00:15:33 | |
| 6 | 300 | DE VILLIERS (ZAF) VON ZITZEWITZ (DEU) | VOLKSWAGEN | 06:02:51 | 00:21:22 | |
| 7 | 311 | TERRANOVA (ARG) MAIMON (FRA) | MITSUBISHI | 06:14:37 | 00:33:08 | |
| 8 | 308 | HOLOWCZYC (POL) FORTIN (BEL) | Nissan Overdrive | 06:23:08 | 00:41:39 | |
| 9 | 318 | MISSLIN (FRA) POLATO (FRA) | MITSUBISHI | 06:28:55 | 00:47:26 | |
| 10 | 313 | LAVIEILLE (FRA) FORTHOMME (BEL) | NISSAN | 06:46:36 | 01:05:07 | |
| 11 | 310 | NOVITSKIY (RUS) SCHULZ (DEU) | BMW | 06:52:53 | 01:11:24 | |
| 12 | 322 | SPINELLI (BRA) PALMEIRO (PRT) | MITSUBISHI | 06:57:07 | 01:15:38 | |
| 13 | 332 | BARBOSA (PRT) RAMALHO (PRT) | MITSUBISHI | 07:03:35 | 01:22:06 | |
| 14 | 323 | ERRANDONEA (AND) GARCIN (FRA) | SMG | 07:06:36 | 01:25:07 | |
| 15 | 315 | KAHLE (DEU) SCHÜNEMANN (DEU) | Fast - Speed | 07:07:01 | 01:25:32 | |
| 16 | 336 | LEAL DOS SANTOS (PRT) FIUZA (PRT) | BMW | 07:15:55 | 01:34:26 | |
| 17 | 314 | SOUSA (PRT) BAUMEL (FRA) | MITSUBISHI | 07:20:44 | 01:39:15 | |
| 18 | 321 | DE AZEVEDO (BRA) CAVASSIN (BRA) | MITSUBISHI | 07:28:41 | 01:47:12 | |
| 19 | 325 | HENRARD (BEL) BEGUIN (BEL) | VOLKSWAGEN | 07:45:34 | 02:04:05 | |
| 20 | 327 | SOLOVYEV (RUS) ZHILTSOV (RUS) | SMG | 08:03:14 | 02:21:45 | |
| 21 | 341 | MITSUHASHI (JPN) CATTARELLI (FRA) | TOYOTA | 08:10:52 | 02:29:23 | |
| 22 | 330 | SIREYJOL (FRA) WISSMANNS (FRA) | BOWLER | 08:15:21 | 02:33:52 | |
| 23 | 338 | GIBON (FRA) MIURA (JPN) | TOYOTA | 08:19:58 | 02:38:29 | |
| 24 | 302 | GORDON (USA) GRIDER (USA) | HUMMER | 08:22:35 | 02:41:06 | |
| 25 | 351 | BALDWIN (USA) WALCH (USA) | HUMMER | 08:36:48 | 02:55:19 | |
| 26 | 317 | VAN DEIJNE (NLD) ROSEGAAR (NLD) | MITSUBISHI | 09:20:13 | 03:38:44 | |
| 27 | 377 | FAVRE (FRA) FAVRE (FRA) | TOYOTA | 09:29:38 | 03:48:09 | |
| 28 | 352 | BOUTRON (FRA) MARTIN (FRA) | BOWLER | 09:41:27 | 03:59:58 | |
| 29 | 339 | FOJ (ESP) JATON (ARG) | TOYOTA | 09:43:23 | 04:01:54 | |
| 30 | 402 | YACOPINI (ARG) MARCO (ARG) | TOYOTA | 09:53:33 | 04:12:04 |
Stage 7 - Overall Standing
|
Images : 2010 Dakar Rally - Stage 7 : Iquique to Antofagasta
[Source : 2010 Dakar - Official, VOLKSWAGEN, X-Raid]
