The Australian driver Toby Price (KTM) maintained the lead in the motorcycle competition in the 45th edition of the Dakar all-terrain rally, after the 13th and penultimate stage, in which the Frenchman Sébastien Loeb (HRX) made history in the cars.
The former world rally champion achieved his sixth consecutive victory this Saturday, an unprecedented feat in the history of the Dakar, seventh in this year’s edition. Since 2011, with the Spanish Carlos Sainz, a rider has not won so many stages in the same edition.
Loeb completed the 154 timed kilometers today, between Shaybah and Al-Hofuf, in Saudi Arabia, in 02:26.17 hours, leaving the Qatari Nasser Al-Attiyah (Toyota) in second place in 05.28 minutes and the Swede Mattias Ëkstrom (Audi) in third. at 06.31.
This was Loeb’s 23rd victory in the competition, in seven starts, but Nasser Al-Attiyah continues to lead the competition, with 01:21.42 hours ahead of Loeb, who lost a lot of time in the early stages due to punctures and mechanical problems. problems.
In the bikes, Toby Price, who started with a 28 second lead overall, once again took advantage of the bonuses given to the top three riders on the track to stay in first position.
The Australian was the fifth fastest of the day, 02.28 minutes behind the winner, Argentine Kevin Benavides (KTM).
The KTM rider also stopped for around 23 minutes alongside Austrian Mathias Walkner (KTM), who crashed during the stage and complained of back pain. In the end, he saw how the organization subtracted time from the stop and awarded him the stage victory, with a 27-second advantage over the South African Michael Docherty (Husqvarna), who competes in the Rally 2 category. The Argentine Luciano Benavides (Husqvarna) he was third, 57 seconds behind his brother.
In this way, Price and Benavides reach the last stage of the race separated by 12 seconds, with the North American Skyler Howes (Husqvarna) third, at 01.31 minutes.
According to the regulations, the starting order of the last special, between A-Hofuf and Dammam, with 136 timed kilometres, will be done in reverse order to that of the general classification.
In other words, Price, who won the 2016 and 2019 editions, will start behind his most direct opponents and with the track already marked, which helps in terms of navigation. Kevin Benavides is looking for his second victory, after having won the 2021 edition, still with the Honda led by the Portuguese Rubén Faria.
In light vehicles, Ricardo Mas (Yamaha) appears in third place in the provisional classification of the stage, 06.26 minutes behind the winner, the American Mitchell Guthrie (BFG).
Source: TSF
