STAGE 7 The 462km of special stage in the sands were not good for Cerutti who finished in 21st after a technical bike issue and some navigation errors in the dunes. Instead it was Gallas who took the stage win to put a 6 minute lead into the chasing field. Paulin and Botturi finished 5th and 10th respectively.
STAGE 8 Riders took on a 415km loop from the bivouac through the canyons and finishing over multiple dunes. The ups and downs of the leaders continued. Ex-MXGP rider Paulin( five time winner of the MXoN and previous winner of the Eco Race in the car class) was in his element, spending much of the race on
his own, taking the win by over 2 minutes to Lepan and 5 minutes ahead of Cerutti who had a great ride. Gallas kept his podium hopes alive in 6th with Botturi in 8th. Marini on the 450 lead the overall, with Lepan and Gallas behind.
STAGE 9 Leaving the bivouac in Aidzidine, riders made their way towards Ouad Naga, with 65km of liaison and a 426km timed special, featuring lots of dunes in temperatures reaching over 40 ° C. Again, Lapan on the 450 KTM was pushing hard and took the win by almost 6 minutes over Yamaha’ s Gallas, with Botturi making a comeback to clinch 4th. A technical issue for Cerutti’ s Aprilia saw him lose 32 minutes to leader Lepan, who lead by almost
KIWI RIDER 27