HRC rider and defending Dakar champion Ricky Brabec has fired his first shot by taking stage win number seven in the 2021 Dakar rally. The American took the lead from early leader Toby Price and walked away with the stage win. Below is a look at what happened throughout he stage.

13:36 Brabec grabs the stage!

The winner of the prologue, Ricky Brabec, had not finished on the podium since his second place in stage 2, but the defending champion struck back today by beating Ignacio Cornejo by 2'07' and Skyler Howes by 2'19'. Sam Sunderland came in fourth place, just under three minutes down.

13:19 Benavides runs out of steam

A dramatic turn of events at the Dakar as Kevin Benavides goes from challenging for the stage win to accumulating a deficit of more than 10 minutes with about 50 kilometres to go. Toby Price is just under four minutes behind the leader. Xavier De Soultrait is making hay of the situation to move up to second place!

12:59 First motorbikes cross the line

Joan Barreda, Daniel Sanders and Ricky Brabec were among the first bikers to cross the finish line. We are now waiting for Kevin Benavides to finish to find out who takes the spoils today.

12:46 Benavides joins the party

Kevin Benavides has taken over the reins with less than 100 km to go! The Argentinian, riding with an injured nose since Thursday, has toppled teammate Ricky Brabec from the provisional lead and is now 40' ahead of him. Toby Price is now almost a minute and a half back, while Xavier De Soultrait remains within striking distance at 1'35'.

12:00 Brabec moves into the lead

Ricky Brabec overtook Toby Price at km 279 ! The American now leads his Australian rival by 31' and Kevin Benavides by almost a minute and a half. Xavier De Soultrait remains in fourth place under two minutes back.

11:37 Stage win still up in the air!

Toby Price still holds the lead at km 242. The Australian has been able to fend off his chasers so far, but his margin has dwindled to 18 seconds over Ricky Brabec and 58 over Kevin Benavides. Xavier De Soultrait is also in the mix at 1'36'. The gaps remain very small!

10:57 Price, Brabec and Benavides in command

Toby Price is still in the lead as the stage approaches its halfway point, just under a minute ahead of Ricky Brabec and Kevin Benavides. Xavier De Soultrait has overtaken Daniel Sanders and is now fourth at 2'22'. Barreda is losing almost 9 minutes, while Ross Branch is 40 minutes back after experiencing mechanical troubles near the start.

10:20 Price still in command as Barreda struggles

148 km into the special, Toby Price still leads the race by 1'28' over Ricky Brabec and 1'51' over rookie Daniel Sanders, who is managing to keep Kevin Benavides at bay. Meanwhile, Joan Barreda is struggling with opening the way and has already conceded eight minutes to Price.

09:48 Two Hondas uncomfortably close to Price

100 km into the special, Toby Price still leads the stage by 1'34' over Ricky Brabec and 2' over Kevin Benavides, with rookie Daniel Sanders in fourth place at 2'04', Xavier De Soultrait still fifth at 2'49' and another Frenchman, Adrien Van Beveren, a further 10 seconds back.

09:28 De Soultrait conceding 2'20' to Price

Xavier De Soultrait is already losing over two minutes to Toby Price at the second time check. The Frenchman is now fifth, behind Kevin Benavides, one of his main rivals for the overall.

09:10 Benavides nipping at De Soultrait's heels

Kevin Benavides, the 15th biker to start the special, is running fourth in the stage, 34' behind leader Toby Price and 3' behind Xavier De Soultrait. The Argentinian has now got Price in his sights in an attempt to make up his 2'16' deficit to the overall lead.

08:41 Price seizes the lead

Toby Price holds the provisional best time at the first time check, 28' ahead of Daniel Sanders and 31' ahead of Xavier De Soultrait. The winner of last Friday's stage, Joan Barreda, is losing just over a minute, while Kevin Benavides has yet to appear at the first WP.

08:38 Branch back on the move

Ross Branch is back in the race. The biker from Botswana spent some time patching up his Yamaha after a crash.

08:18 78 motorbikes still in the race

78 of the 101 motorbikes originally cleared to start the 43rd Dakar are still in contention after a week and six stages that have put man and machine alike through the wringer.

08:14 Ross Branch crashes and damages his bike

The second biker to start the special, Ross Branch, crashed around km 31. While the Yamaha rider emerged unscathed, the same cannot be said for his motorbike, and he is now trying to fix it. A serious blow for the brand with the tuning forks' top rider in the general standings!

08:03 Gerini in control

Italian Maurizio Gerini still leads the Original by Motul classification by just over 4 minutes over Arūnas Gelažninkas. Defending champion Emanuel Gyenes is third overall, but his deficit has ballooned to about 45 minutes.

07:58 Barreda and Branch hit the road

Joan Barreda, Ross Branch and Daniel Sanders were first out of the gate for today's special. A Honda, a Yamaha and a KTM… A sensational showdown awaits! Toby Price, starting in seventh place, and Kevin Benavides, who turned 31 yesterday, are also men to watch out for.

07:20 Less than 5 minutes separate the top 5

This edition is shaping up to be a case of 'two steps forward, one step back' for the motorbikes. Toby Price leads the general standings, but the fifth-placed rider is just 4′23″ back. Joan Barreda, starting the stage in sixth place overall, will be opening the way to Sakakah. Can he play his cards right and rise in the pecking order?

07:00 Here we go again!

The field is heading to Sakakah after a short rest day. A 453 km special with 100 km kilometres of up-and-down racing almost without interruption awaits. Stony plateaus and winding tracks are among the other challenges of the day. Competitors will have to be on high alert to avoid blunders and mechanicals.

Full Results HERE.