Variawa's incredible comeback snatches stage in Dakar Rally and Benavides rides to another win

WADI AD-DAWASIR, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Saood Variawa snatched stage eight from South African compatriot Henk Lategan by three seconds after an impressive comeback drive in the Dakar Rally on Monday.

Variawa, only 20 and driving in his third Dakar, started 26th and was in sixth place with 100 kilometers to go in the 483-kilometer loop outside Wadi ad-Dawasir. Then he was third after 414 and second after 448.

For the second straight day Lategan had a stage win ripped from his grasp. On Sunday his Toyota's rear damper broke 30 kilometers from the finish.

Meanwhile, Luciano Benavides became the overall motorbike leader for the first time in his ninth Dakar after winning a second straight stage and gobbling up all 7 1/2 minutes in bonus time for faultlessly opening the way.

Benavides won the stage by 4:50 over KTM teammate and defending champion Daniel Sanders and replaced Sanders atop the overall by 10 seconds going into the two-day marathon stage.

Monday's stage, the longest of the race, had a cocktail of dunes, valleys and rocks but navigation was easier than expected and it turned into a fast, wind-whipped special.

The top five cars — featuring main title contenders Lategan, Nasser Al-Attiyah and Mattias Ekström — were less than a minute apart for the first 400 kilometers until Al-Attiyah's navigation error suddenly dropped him two minutes behind.

Thanks to starting nearly an hour after the opener, Ekström, Variawa sneaked through for his second career stage win. The first last year at 19 made him the youngest stage winner in Dakar history.

“The car was perfect on a very long stage on which it was difficult to keep up with the pace,” Variawa said. “In the dunes we navigated well while a lot of others got lost. At times we went our own way and perhaps that's where we made a difference. I'm very happy and I can’t wait for tomorrow.”

Variawa, following his father Shameer as a Dakar racer, suffered tire, navigation and mechanical problems on Sunday but got his Toyota back up to 13th overall with the aim of a maiden top-10 finish.

Al-Attiyah's Dacia got about 45 seconds back in the closing section to finish fifth and limit his time losses to remain the overall leader by four minutes over Ekström, whose Ford was third on the stage, and six minutes over Lategan.

Nani Roma fell from third to fourth, 9 1/2 minutes back, and Ford teammate Carlos Sainz was another minute behind. It's the closest top five after eight stages in 26 years.

The motorbikes of Sanders and Ricky Brabec were quicker in real time but the seven-plus minutes in time bonuses for opening the dusty track helped Benavides win by the same margin he did on Sunday, nearly five minutes.

“These last two stages were a little bit more fast and in these conditions I can read the roadbook super, super good and make good decisions,” Benavides said.

He has eight career motorbike stage wins, three behind his brother Kevin, the champion in 2021 and 2023.

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

Rider Tosha Schareina competes during the eighth stage of the Dakar Rally with a start and finish at Wadi Ad Dawasir, Saudi Arabia, Monday, Jan.12, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Rider Ricky Brabec competes during the eighth stage of the Dakar Rally with a start and finish at Wadi Ad Dawasir, Saudi Arabia, Monday, Jan.12, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Driver Carlos Sainz and co-driver Lucas Cruz compete with riders David Brock, bottom right, and Fernando Dominguez, top left, during the eighth stage of the Dakar Rally with a start and finish at Wadi Ad Dawasir, Saudi Arabia, Monday, Jan.12, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Driver Romain Dumas and co-driver Alex Winocq compete with riders David Brock, right, and Fernando Dominguez, in the background, during the eighth stage of the Dakar Rally with a start and finish at Wadi Ad Dawasir, Saudi Arabia, Monday, Jan.12, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Driver Saood Variawa and co-driver Francois Cazalet compete during the eighth stage of the Dakar Rally with a start and finish at Wadi Ad Dawasir, Saudi Arabia, Monday, Jan.12, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Explosions sounded in Tehran Wednesday as Iran's war with the U.S. and Israel entered a fifth day following earlier strikes on an Iranian nuclear site and retaliatory strikes by the Islamic Republic across the Gulf region.

The explosions around Tehran came at dawn, according to Iran state television, while Israel’s military said its air defenses had been activated to intercept incoming Iranian missiles and explosions were heard around Jerusalem.

Five days into a war that U.S. President Donald Trump suggested could last a month or longer, nearly 800 people have been killed in Iran, including some Trump said he had considered as possible future leaders of the country.

Explosions also hit Lebanon, where Israel said it is retaliating against Hezbollah militants. Lebanon’s state-run media reported that at least four people were killed in an Israeli strike that hit a residential complex in the city of Baalbeck.

Here is the latest:

The death toll from the strike on a residential complex in Baalbeck, Lebanon, rises to five, the state-run National News Agency reported.

Fifteen others were wounded and three are missing, it said.

Sirens have sounded Wednesday morning across Jordan, the kingdom’s state television reported.

An Israeli airstrike hit a hotel outside of Beirut, Lebanon’s state-run news agency reported Wednesday.

The strike came in Hazmieh, about 5 kilometers (3 miles) southeast of downtown Beirut.

The report from Lebanon’s National News Agency said ambulances had been dispatched to the scene.

It did not elaborate in its short report.

Asian shares tumbled Wednesday, with South Korea’s benchmark plunging as much as 11%, while oil prices climbed even higher.

Worries over the widening conflict with Iran have hammered most world markets.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 shed 3.4% to 54,346.73.

Japan, like South Korea, depends heavily on imports of oil and natural gas from the Middle East that are now stranded in the Persian Gulf.

The price of U.S. benchmark crude oil climbed 1.2% to $75.46 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, gained 1.5% to $82.61 per barrel.

Higher oil prices and how much they might worsen inflation are spooking investors worried that more spikes for oil prices may grind down the global economy and sap corporate profits.

An Iranian flag is placed among the ruins of a police station struck Monday during the U.S.–Israeli military campaign in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Firefighters inspect the rubble as smoke rises from a building hit by an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Jewish men covered in prayer shawls pray in an underground parking garage as a precaution against possible Iranian missile attacks, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

A coffin is carried during the funeral of mostly children killed in what Iranian officials said was an Israeli-U.S. strike Feb. 28 at a girls' elementary school in Minab, Iran, Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (Abbas Zakeri/Mehr News Agency via AP)

A man takes shelter in an underground metro station as a precaution against possible Iranian missile attacks, in Ramat Gan, Israel Monday, March 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Smoke rises from Israeli airstrikes in Dahiyeh, a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)