Dakar 2015 Stage 8 - Marc Coma to the top
Cold comes right after hot. After much suffering, the riders have to endure the freezing temperature at Stage 8. The condition was not any much better than the previous few stages. It was hard on the riders as well as their bikes. With many challenges here and there, some got through it with their astonishing performance while some just got caught up. Spanish rider, Joan Barreda was leading the overall list but his streak ended off at stage 8. He got caught up at stage 7 with a damaged handlebar after his crash and stage 8 did not get any better, but worst. He list over 3 hours, allowing Marc Coma to be at the top of the overall standings. Coma is currently taking the lead, following by Paulo Goncalves which is 9 minutes and 11 seconds away. Coma talked about his own problems, saying that the conditions was pretty bad for him. It was difficult to rider over the salt with the cement-like water. But all in all, he mentioned that he was happy that he is leading and only left with 5days.
Stage 8 was however taken away by Chilean racer Pablo Qunitanilla, with Spanish racer Joan Pedrero just 11 seconds away from him.
Dakar 2015 Top 10 from Stage 8
| Position | Rider | Country | Brand | Timing |
| 1 | Pablo Qunitanilla | CHI | KTM | 2:56:19 |
| 2 | Joan Pedrero | ESP | Honda | +0:11 |
| 3 | Stefan Svitko | SVK | KTM | +0:12 |
| 4 | Toby Price | AUS | KTM | +0:41 |
| 5 | Lila Sanz | ESP | Honda | +2:36 |
| 6 | De Soultrait | FRA | Yahama | +6:36 |
| 7 | Alain Duclos | FRA | Sherco | +6:42 |
| 8 | Hans Vogels | NLD | KTM | +7:34 |
| 9 | Marc Coma | ESP | KTM | +7:37 |
| 10 | Ruben Faria | POR | KTM | +7:44 |
Dakar 2015 Overall after Stage 8
| Position | Rider | Country | Brand | Timing |
| 1 | Marc Coma | ESP | KTM | 28:51:12 |
| 2 | Paolo Goncalves | POR | Honda | +9:11 |
| 3 | Pablo Quintanilla | CHI | KTM | +11:11 |
| 4 | Toby Price | AUS | KTM | +15:56 |
| 5 | Stefan Svitko | SVK | KTM | +26:30 |
| 6 | Ruben Faria | POR | KTM | +34:34 |
| 7 | Alain Duclos | FRA | Sherco | +58:08 |
| 8 | David Casteu | FRA | KTM | +1:10:48 |
| 9 | Laia Sanz | ESP | Honda | +1:18:51 |
| 10 | Ivan Jakes | SVK | KTM | +1:47:47 |
Information By: dakar.com