The words "to finish first, you must first finish" might seem a bit trite, but they're also extremely true in rally raids. Since a rally raid consists of multiple stages, endurance is the name of the game. If you and your bike can make it across the finish line, even a bad racing day today might just pay off tomorrow.
That's seemingly what happened for Pol Tarrés, who took his first stage win of the 2024 Africa Eco Rally at the end of Stage Six. Sadly for Guillaume Borne, he crashed out on kilometer eight with shoulder and rib injuries, for which he went to the hospital for further testing.
At the end of Stage Six, here were the results for the top five riders:
| Racer | Team | Time |
| Pol Tarrés | Yamaha Tenere World Raid Team | 01:51:53 |
| Jacopo Cerutti | Aprilia Racing GCorse | 01:52:50 |
| Alessandro Botturi | Yamaha Tenere World Raid Team | 01:53:35 |
| Alessandro Ruoso | Twinsbike Racing Team | 01:53:49 |
| Francesco Montanari | Aprilia Racing GCorse | 01:56:11 |
Stage Seven
Unfortunately for Tarrés, his luck on Stage Six didn't carry through on Stage Seven. Problems with his exhaust resulted in his first finish out of the top three riders for any stage of the 2024 AER. At least he'll go on to ride another day in this event, though.
Cerutti had some navigation issues and a small (but thankfully not serious) crash toward the end of the stage, but still managed to bring his bike home in second place. In the end, it was Botturi who won the day.
Here are the results for the top five riders in Stage Seven of the 2024 AER:
| Racer | Team | Time |
| Alessandro Botturi | Yamaha Tenere World Raid Team | 04:35:20 |
| Jacopo Cerutti | Aprilia Racing GCorse | 04:37:20 |
| Francesco Montanari | Aprilia Racing GCorse | 04:51:19 |
| Marco Menichini | Solarys Racing | 05:02:39 |
| Pol Tarrés | Yamaha Tenere World Raid Team | 05:03:22 |
Stage Eight
Tarrés once again proved the power of simply finishing a stage. From fifth place on Stage Seven, he scored his second stage win of the 2024 AER on Stage Eight. As has been the standard for most of the stages so far in this year's rally, Aprilia Racing rider Jacopo Cerutti and Tarrés' teammate Alessandro Botturi filled out the rest of the top three.
Here are the results for the top five riders in Stage Eight of the 2024 AER:
| Racer | Team | Time |
| Pol Tarrés | Yamaha Tenere World Raid Team | 04:12:50 |
| Jacopo Cerutti | Aprilia Racing GCorse | 04:18:38 |
| Alessandro Botturi | Yamaha Tenere World Raid Team | 04:20:41 |
| Francesco Montanari | Aprilia Racing GCorse | 04:22:24 |
| Giovanni Gritti | RSMoto Racing Team Honda Oil | 04:22:31 |
Rider Standings Overall After Stage Eight of the 2024 AER
| Racer | Team | Time |
| Jacopo Cerutti | Aprilia Racing GCorse | 31:14:47 |
| Alessandro Botturi | Yamaha Tenere World Raid Team | 31:17:50 |
| Pol Tarrés | Yamaha Tenere World Raid Team | 31:37:09 |
| Giovanni Gritti | RSMoto Racing Team Honda Oil | 34:29:04 |
| Alexandre Vaudan | Casteu Trophy | 35:02:22 |
| Francesco Montanari | Aprilia Racing GCorse | 35:20:34 |
| Alessandro Ruoso | Twinsbike Racing Team | 36:03:22 |
| Attilio Fert | France Road Book | 36:14:38 |
| Marco Aurelio Fontana | Honda Genuine Oil | 36:24:00 |
| Marco Menichini | Solarys Racing | 36:33:14 |
