Han Wei and Jean-Pierre Garcin in cars, and Armand Monleón in bikes category maintain their leadership after stage 8 of 2016 Taklimakan Rally. Dunes of Taklimakan Desert were cruel.  
Due to a very hard sand storm and a low visibility this morning in Yutian at the start of the selective section, organizers had to delay the launch of stage 8 of 2016 Taklimakan Rally. Initially planned to be at 7.01 AM, competitors had to wait more than three hours until Armand Monleón, yesterday’s winner, starts first in a 288 kilometers selective section long.    
The stage was very varied with sandy and tortuous sections, but also sixty kilometers of crossing dunes to finish the selective section.   
Even though these dunes seemed to be insignificant at the first sight, this last section became impressive. Competitors came into the first dunes while the temperature was the highest of the day. The hard sand had disappeared and become very soft.  
These last sixty kilometers have deeply modified the overall classification in bikes and cars categories.
In bike category, Armand Monleón was still the best today.
Even though he is in a good shape and used to compete marathon stage, the spanish admits at the finish line he has never suffered so much on his bike. Because of the heat and the sandstorm, he had to cut off contact four times in order to avoid a overheating of his KTM 450 Redbull.
Other riders finish at more than two hours and have spent for each of them more than nine hours in selective section today.
Selection was also tough in car category. Only thirty crews have achieved to get out of the stage before the night.  
At the head, Yangui Liu and He Sha on their Zotye T600 are back on a field they really appreciate. Crew number 102 wins the stage in spite of a bumper destroyed. They take the second place in overall classification and make the good operation of the day.
Han Wei and Jean-Pierre Garcin  took advantage of the factors of the race to improve their leadership in the overall classification. The franco-chinese crews went out of the dunes with difficulties but finished second in spite of a five time stuck in the sand. While two stages left, they have now a solid leadership since Kun Liu and Pan Hongyu had mechanical problem with their Mitsubishi.  
Philippe Gache and Stéphane Prévot, on the second HanWei Motorsport buggy, finish third after a very nice stage even though they have lost few minutes because the car was stuck in the sand twice.
Third this morning in the overall classification, Toyota Landcruiser number 111 has proved that the vehicle was more comfortable on earth than on sand. After having lost many minutes yesterday, Xuebin Lu and Hogwu Lu did not achieve to go at the end of the stage. The fixed penalty they got from the race director will not enable to get a final good classification.   
Tomorrow, on Thursday, May 25th, competitors of 2016 Taklimakan Rally will join Aksou at the west of the Xinjiang Province.
A penultimate 389 kilometers stage long including 253 kilometers in selective section is on program. Competitors will once again cross the dunes of Taklimakan desert, before a finish in a easier and less selective area.

Press: Taklimakan Rally