A first-class day for Hero and Audi

FOCUS

Today, on the third day of the race, the competitors had to tackle a special that was shortened due to the heavy rain that soaked a part of the region of Al Artawiyah. The stage began at the point which should originally have hosted CP1, reducing the timed section by approximately one hundred kilometres. On a loop around Al Qaysumah, the riders and drivers started with a 214-km link section, before 255 km of special, followed by a 166-km return route to the starting bivouac for the second looped stage on the rally. On the menu, there was sand which, thanks to the rain, was heavier and provided better carry. However, there were also chains of dunes through which the competitors had to wind as well as climb, over a distance of 30 km, classed as level 2 difficulty. From the top of these first large dunes, the elite competitors could already start to scrutinize the route of the long stage in store for tomorrow: Nasser Al-Attiyah and Daniel Sanders, through managing their race on the day’s special, look well prepared to affront it.

OUTLINE

The story of David against Goliath is mythical and can sometimes bet repeated on the Dakar. Such thumbing of the nose was carried out today in the bike category by Portugal’s Joaquim Rodrigues, who achieved a certain form of consecration by winning a special on his 6th Dakar (see “Performance of the day”). His feat did not perturb the leaders of the overall classification, though the gaps between them narrowed before the major battle expected tomorrow on the way to Riyadh. For his 31st birthday, Adrien Van Beveren was within 4 seconds of deposing his rival Sam Sunderland from the top of the race hierarchy, on which Matthias Walkner (3rd) and Skyler Howes (4th) also closed in. In total, five brands were represented in the top 6, with the Sherco ridden by Lorenzo Santolino in 6th place. A first victory was also not very far off for Henk Lategan, who was the fastest driver at the intermediate check points. However, he came up against a very imposing stage win collector at the end of the special in the form of Carlos Sainz, who crossed the finishing line with the best time for the 40th occasion in his career on the Dakar (see “Stat of the day”). Nonetheless, the Spaniard denied himself the pleasure of celebrating, such was his frustration at falling out of the reckoning two days ago in the fight for the title, which chiefly concerns Nasser Al-Attiyah… and increasingly less Sebastien Loeb. The
Frenchman and his BRX Hunter remain in 2nd position, but the breakage of his prop shaft after 10 km of racing forced him to drive conservatively (well, as much as that is possible for a driver like Loeb!) and he finished the day more than 37 minutes behind the Qatari race leader. In the T3 class, Seth Quintero tried to drown his disappointment at yesterday’s display (when he lost several hours due to a mechanical problem) by grabbing his third special after a short night’s sleep, though “Chaleco” López now leads the overall classification, with Sebastian Eriksson 9 minutes behind in his rear-view mirror. The Poles continued their stage win domination in the SSV category, with another special success picked up by Marek Goczał, but American Austin Jones is still in command in the overall classification. In the truck race, in his Kamaz number 500, Dmitry Sotnikov consolidated his position as leader by obtaining his 2nd stage win of the year, climbing onto the top step of the day’s podium onto which also clambered Janus Van Kasteren from Team De Rooy behind the wheel of his Iveco.

PERFORMANCE OF THE DAY

Joaquim Rodrigues was not aware of the fact this morning at the start, but he set off with the costume of a superhero! Featuring on the virtual podium at each check point, he won the special to obtain his first victory on the Dakar. He also offered the same distinction to Hero Motorsport, the Indian brand for whom he made his debut in 2017. “J-Rod” has endured the worst of experiences, with the death of his team-mate Paulo Gonçalves on 12th January 2020, but today enjoyed one of the best, thanks in part to his former countryman and team-mate: “It’s my first stage victory on the Dakar and its historical for the team, I’m really, really happy. I was riding well and so fast that I even said to myself, ‘Paulo is riding with me here’. I think he and I won here today”. The Portuguese rider’s performance is a reward for the unrelenting work of Wolfgang Fischer’s team, which has cast off the curse that seems to have affected the red and whites: “J-Rod was there with Santosh when we began the project, which has obviously experienced highs and lows. Returning last year with the construction of a new bike following Paulo’s death was not easy. We took part in as many races as possible and organised as much testing and training as we could in order to be ready for the Dakar, but we ran into bad luck in the weeks leading up to the race with injuries to Sebastian Buhler and Franco Caimí. In the end, we are here with Aaron Mare and only have two riders, but Joaquim has won for him and for Hero. It is a very emotional moment for us”.

A CRUSHING BLOW

Last year, for his first participation on the Dakar, Laisvydas Kancius finished in seventh place, which is a perfectly respectable performance for a rookie. For this 44th edition of the Dakar, the Lithuanian was simply hoping to go one place better in the overall classification. “Finishing sixth would be good, but of course everybody dreams of a podium finish,” he admitted. He looked to have the capabilities of achieving this goal with ninth place on the opening special. The following day witnessed consecration with no less than victory on stage 1B, more than ten minutes ahead of Pablo Copetti and Giovanni Enrico, who were on the Dakar 2021 podium behind Manuel Andújar. This display enabled him to tackle Monday’s special with the status of category leader. Although he had lost a few minutes by the time he reached the finishing line, he completed the third stage still on top of the overall classification. “Easy does it, we’re sticking to the plan,” he cheerfully commented yesterday evening on Facebook. But, as a famous poet once said, the best laid plans of mice and men go oft awry: his adventure unfortunately ground to a standstill after the first check point due to a mechanical problem. As if that was not enough, his quad also got stuck in the sand, leaving him to admit that even if he managed to dig it out, he would not be able to resume racing. This forced withdrawal is a major blow for the Lithuanian. Nevertheless, he can play his trump card and return to action tomorrow. With 14 quads at the start this morning, Kancius, even with the significant penalty he will receive, could still be in with a shout of making an impact on certain stages.

STAT OF THE DAY: 1985

Back to the future! Today, Carlos Sainz took us on a journey back in time through the history of the Dakar…

In fact, you need to go back to 1985 to find the most recent victory by an Audi on the Dakar. At the time, it was a Quattro belonging to the French privateer team Malardeau, driven by Bernard Darniche. In obtaining the 40th success of his career on the Dakar, “El Matador” put the Audi RS Q e-tron on the highest step of the podium for the very first time on the world’s most prestigious rally-raid. The icing on the cake was that it was also the first victory achieved by a car enrolled in the T1-Ulimate class, a brand-new category introduced this year, reserved for alternatively powered vehicles. The introduction of this class is part of the first act in the #DakarFuture plan and it is a safe bet that this first triumph by a hybrid vehicle will lead to many more. In any event, all the signals are on green…

W2RC : Al-Attiyah gains a bit of breathing space

Nasser Al-Attiyah and Sébastien Loeb were neck-and-neck yesterday, but today that is no longer the case. The Frenchman who broke his transmission, drew a blank on completion of stage 3 and stays on a total of nine points. However, by finishing eighth on the stage but third amongst the world championship protagonists, his Qatari rival has added three points to his total and is the same number of units ahead of Loeb. “Nani” Roma enjoyed a profitable day in W2RC terms because he is now only one point behind his BRX clan teammate. In the T3 class, Seth Quintero, who was unlucky on Monday, came up trumps today and climbs to within two points of “Chaleco” López. As regards their T4 class colleagues, Michał Goczał got the upper hand over Austin Jones and the two Can-Am drivers are respectively on 11 and 10 points before the fourth special. In the truck race, Martin Macík opened up the gap a little further, with 15 points as opposed to the 12 possessed by his team-mate Martin Šoltys.

THE MAKINGS OF A CLASSIC

For the provisional classification in the H3 class, which is for the Dakar Classic’s best performing historical vehicles with a high average constant speed, there is a whiff of a family affair! In the first three places, there are two crews of spouses and one father and son duo. Mr. and Mrs. Panagiotis lead, followed by their FJ team-mates, namely the Galpins. Two Protrucks formerly driven by Saby and Pescarolo occupy the first two places and are followed, as if it was necessary to drape the French control of this class in a blue, white and red flag, by Philippe and Kevin Grandjean from the Ralliart Off Road Classic team, who are driving their Mitsubishi Pajero dating from 1988. And it is not just any old car, because it is a veritably historical vehicle: a prototype produced at the time by the Maingret factory, painted in Nikon’s colours, a replica of the car that was the star of the Paris-Cape Town rally in 1992. Thirty years ago, Hubert Auriol was behind its wheel, escorted on the South African podium by his two team-mates from Ralliart. It is a fine homage to the first biker to win the Dakar on four wheels, who passed away almost one year ago. As if that was not enough, the spectre of one of the discipline’s giants looms in the rear-view mirror of our French friends: Vatanen, in the form of the Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 Grand Raid from 1987, the year of the Sochaux based constructor’s debut on the Dakar. It is driven by a lady driver, Fanny Jacquot, who has just entered the top 10 of the H3 class behind the wheel of one of the stars in the Dakar Classic field, prepared and entrusted to her at the last minute by her father. It is enough to make those who are lucky enough to attend the start of the fourth stage to Riyadh pure with pleasure.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Ignacio Casale: “I can fight with the top drivers”

The Chilean driver and two times Dakar winner in the quad category is starting to flourish in his reconversion with increasingly impressive performances in the truck category: today, he achieved the 6th best time on the special.

“Today was a very funny stage for me. It was very speedy and fast. I think we finished in sixth position and that’s good for me because I can fight with the top drivers”.

More, from a press release issued by GASGAS Factory Racing:

SUNDERLAND MAINTAINS PROVISIONAL DAKAR RALLY LEAD

GASGAS FACTORY RACING’S BRITISH ACE DELIVERS ANOTHER STRONG RIDE WHILE SANDERS SECURES THE FIFTH FASTEST TIME ON A SHORTENED STAGE THREE

Ticking off another solid day of racing at the 2022 Dakar Rally, GASGAS Factory Racing’s Sam Sunderland and Daniel Sanders have both safely completed the relatively simple, but super-fast, third stage. For Sunderland, the Brit expertly assisted with opening the special after setting off in second place before a minor issue finding a waypoint caused him to lose a little bit of time. With all riders setting a similar pace, he ultimately placed 17th, just seven-and-a-half minutes behind the stage winner to retain the overall rally lead. Sanders meanwhile secured the fifth fastest time and now lies fifth in the overall provisional classification.

Strong rides for Sam and Daniel on super-fast special

GASGAS RC 450F Rally race bikes continue to deliver the goods

Tomorrow brings the longest stage of the Dakar Rally

Sam Sunderland: “Today was very sandy, and very fast! I had a little bit of difficulty finding a waypoint, which allowed a few riders to catch up with me, so I knew I’d lost a bit of time there. But overall, it wasn’t too bad. We’re in for a really long stage tomorrow so starting further back is a good thing and I’m excited for a long day on the bike.”

As the 23rd rider to enter stage three after his little detour yesterday, Daniel Sanders was on the gas from the moment he entered the special until he roared across the finish line in Al Qaisumah. Despite being slightly frustrated that the stage was cut short due to heavy rain, the Aussie remains upbeat and near the front of the provisional standings. Sanders is now just under nine minutes behind the race leader, Sam Sunderland.

Daniel Sanders: “It was a good day today. It’s a shame that the stage was cut short as I had a solid pace going and feel like I’d have made up some more time on the guys in front. The navigation was a little bit easier that previous days, so I was able to put my head down and charge all day pretty much. I enjoyed it and I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

Results (provisional): Dakar Rally 2022, stage 3

1. Joaquim Rodrigues (Hero) 2:34:41

2. Toby Price (KTM) 2:35:44

3. Mason Klein (KTM) 2:35:55

5. Daniel Sanders (GASGAS) 2:37:36

17. Sam Sunderland (GASGAS) 2:42:11

Overall Provisional Classification (after stage 3)

1. Sam Sunderland (GASGAS) 11:13:40

2. Adrien Van Beveren (Yamaha) 11:13:44

3. Matthias Walkner (KTM) 11:15:10

5. Daniel Sanders (GASGAS) 11:22:34

More, from a press release issued by Husqvarna Factory Racing:

SKYLER HOWES CLAIMS TOP-FOUR RESULT ON DAKAR RALLY STAGE THREE

CONSISTENCY PAYS OFF FOR HUSQVARNA FACTORY RACING’S LEAD RIDER AS HOWES CLIMBS TO FOURTH IN THE OVERALL RACE CLASSIFICATION

Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Skyler Howes continues to put in strong and consistent results at the 2022 Dakar Rally, claiming his second fourth-place stage finish in a row to move himself up to fourth in the provisional overall standings. Skyler now trails the event leader by under four minutes. Teammate Luciano Benavides completed the shortened 255-kilometre special in 15th place.

Heavy rain in the area forced the organisers to cut short stage three, and with wet sand covering the tracks and dunes, the special delivered a fast-paced challenge to all competitors. Howes, who found the conditions very much to his liking, pushed hard from his fourth-place start position, making very few errors and catching the three riders ahead of him before the end of the stage. Opening the special from there on, the American was able to maintain his position on the time sheets, despite his rivals chasing him down. Another fourth-place stage result means that Howes now lies fourth in the overall standings and will also enjoy a strong start position for Wednesday’s long 465-kilometre timed special from Al Qaysumah to Riyadh.

Continuing to move himself up the overall order, Luciano Benavides put in a solid ride on stage three to claim 15th place, just over six minutes down on the winner. Completing the special without error or incident, Benavides moves up to 25th in the rankings. The young Argentinian is determined to make up for the time lost on stage one, but with nine days still left to race, he knows that a consistent pace without any mistakes is key to fulfilling that goal.

Skyler Howes: “Today was really fun – fast like yesterday with plenty of tracks and some technical dunes. I started off fourth and stayed there till around kilometre 250 where there was a tricky-to-find waypoint and I managed to catch up with the three in front. From there to the finish I opened the whole way, which was really fun and good experience. I did ok on my navigation today, not perfect but it all went smoothly, and I was able to stay at a good pace even from the front. Fourth on the stage is really encouraging, so I’m stoked and already looking forward to tomorrow.”

Luciano Benavides: “Stage three has definitely been the best day for me so far in the race in terms of my rhythm and navigation. I didn’t make any big mistakes and was able to set my own pace throughout the special. Tomorrow is the longest day of the rally, and it looks like it’s going to include some really tricky navigation, so I think I have a good start position to hopefully make up some time. My position in the overall is still not too great because of the time lost on day one, but there are still many days to go, and I’ll keep on giving my best.”

2022 Dakar Rally – Stage 3 Provisional Classification

1. Joaquim Rodrigues (Hero) 2:34:41

2. Toby Price (KTM) 2:35:44

3. Mason Klein (KTM) 2:35:55

4. Skyler Howes (Husqvarna) 2:36:07 

5. Daniel Sanders (GASGAS) 2:37:36

…

15. Luciano Benavides (Husqvarna) 2:41:02

2022 Dakar Rally – Overall Provisional Classification (after stage 3)

1. Sam Sunderland (GASGAS) 11:13:40

2. Adrien Van Beveren (Yamaha) 11:13:44

3. Matthias Walkner (KTM) 11:15:10

4. Skyler Howes (Husqvarna) 11:17:35

5. Daniel Sanders (GASGAS) 11:22:34

…

25. Luciano Benavides (Husqvarna) 12:15:54

More, from a press release issued by Monster Energy Honda Team:

Ricky Brabec back to fine form in Al Qaisumah

Monster Energy Honda Team riders turned out solid performances in today’s looping Al Qaisumah special, with sights firmly set on tomorrow’s longest 2022 Dakar Rally special. Brabec, Cornejo, Barreda and Quintanilla will all be looking to make up time and positions by the time they reach Riyadh.

Today’s third stage played out over an unscheduled loop in Al-Qaisumah on an altered route, shortened to a 255-kilometre special and a 380-kilometre link section. There were 214 kilometres of liaison to be tackled on this chilly morning, with temperatures below 10°C, before reaching the start of the day’s timed special. The stage was raced over fast sandy tracks, some type two dune ridges and some twelve kilometres of off-piste tracks.

Ricky Brabec was Monster Energy Honda Team’s best-placed rider today on this third stage, finishing sixth on the day in RallyGP after having set off from fifteenth position. Fine work for the American who is attempting to claw his way back up the rankings stage by stage.

José Ignacio ‘Nacho’ Cornejo made a good recovery in the shortened special. The young Chilean continues to make notable progress, posting eleventh, a little over five minutes shy of the day’s winner. Barreda’s role as the day’s track-opener could have gone far worse for the Spanish rider who had been expected to drop considerable time compared to the frontrunners. By the end of the day Joan had only conceded ten-and-a-half minutes to the eventual stage winner. Bang Bang currently holds twelfth place, less than 24 minutes behind the overall rally leader. Pablo Quintanilla planned the day with tomorrow’s stage in mind, however, he dropped a fair amount of time to finish twenty-second, although holding on to an intermediate position in the general rankings close to his main rivals.

Tomorrow’s stage

The fourth stage will see the entire Dakar bivouac transfer to the Saudi Arabian capital, Riyadh. It will feature the longest special stage of the race, with 465 kilometres out of a total distance of 707 kilometres. From Al Qaisumah, riders and drivers will encounter a myriad of terrain types, each one more demanding than the previous: some 200 kilometres of fast track, dunes, rocks and stones and oueds – dry rivers crossings – which could cause some shake-ups in the general standings.

Ricky Brabec  2

STAGE: 6TH  OVERALL: 19TH

The day was fine. The rain a couple of days ago meant that the sand and dirt is still quite wet. When you start up in the rear of the pack, there’s not much navigation and you can see the lines go forever across the valleys and the dunes, so it makes it pretty easy from the back. Today was a fast day, one of the fastest. It’s only day three but we’re a little bit behind. We’ll wait to see how it goes tomorrow and we’ll keep pushing to see what happens at the end.

Pablo Quintanilla  7

STAGE: 22ND  OVERALL: 7TH

A sandy stage, with a lot of dunes and some navigation. I pushed at the beginning with some good pace in case anyone made a mistake and I would be right there. The important thing will be tomorrow’s stage, and at the end of the day I realised that the bunch in front of me navigated well and I slowed down a bit, dropping a few minutes. Tomorrow will be the longest special stage of the rally and possibly one of the most difficult. We have a good position to attack tomorrow. We’ll see if we can make up a few minutes in the general standings.

José Ignacio Cornejo  11

STAGE: 11TH  OVERALL: 17TH

I’m happy with today’s stage. It was a long and entertaining one. The times were very tight, so you couldn’t make much of a difference, but it was possible to get a good position for tomorrow’s stage. I think it went well and I didn’t lose any time to the stage frontrunners, so we’ll try to make it up day by day focusing hard. We’ll see what’s in store for tomorrow, hopefully it will be more linear and more fluid and with a bit less navigation than yesterday.

Joan Barreda  88

STAGE: 20TH  OVERALL: 12TH

It was a good stage, I think I didn’t do too badly. I opened the entire special and I felt strong, with good navigation until about kilometre 200, where there was a waypoint in the dunes that took me a few minutes to validate. I think I lost about 10 minutes until the group arrived. In any case, I’m happy with the job done today.

More, from a press release issued by KTM Factory Racing:

TOBY PRICE FINISHES AS RUNNER-UP ON FAST DAKAR RALLY STAGE THREE

Dakar Rally 2022 – Stage Three

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Toby Price has secured his best stage finish of the 2022 Dakar Rally so far, bringing his KTM 450 RALLY home in an impressive second place. On a shortened, but very fast special, Kevin Benavides finished eighth, with Matthias Walkner just two places behind in 10th. Returning to the race following his technical issue on stage two, Tech3 KTM Factory Racing’s Danilo Petrucci completed the day in 22nd.

With heavy rain falling in and around the Al Artawiyah region, organizers were forced to shorten the timed special on stage three to 255 kilometers. Made up of extremely fast sand tracks and areas of dunes, the stage didn’t present too much of a challenge in terms of navigation, and as such, times at the top were close. The top 10 finishers were separated by less than five minutes.

After his fifth-place result on stage two, Toby Price knew he would have to push right from the start to make up time on his rivals ahead. However, with times so tight, it was tough for the Australian to claw back much more than a few minutes. Maintaining good speed over the entire special, Price was able to ultimately fight his way up to second, just over one-minute down on the eventual stage winner by the end of the day. The result moves Toby up to 14th overall, as he continues to regain the time lost on stage one.

Toby Price: “Today has been a good day – super fast, so you can’t really make up time on anyone. We had some lines in the dunes that you could see, so I just tried to make a good clean stage and not make any big mistakes. I did have one little get-off, but other than that, nothing major. The results are close, but we’re going in the right direction, and we’ll see what tomorrow brings.”

Impressing once again with both his speed and consistency, Kevin Benavides rode a solid stage three to claim eighth place. As the third rider into the special, it meant that the Argentinian was soon up near the front of the pack, opening the stage along with another three riders. Thanks to his strong run of form, despite losing time on the difficult to navigate opening stage, Kevin now lies eighth in the provisional overall standings.

Kevin Benavides: “I set off third today and so pushed right from the start. After the refueling I caught up to the guys in front and we rode together as a group of four in the end, which was good as the pace was quite high. Day by day I’m getting back some of the time I lost with a mistake on stage one, so things are going well.”

As the 14th rider to take to today’s stage, Matthias Walkner had hoped to use it to his advantage and chase down the riders ahead. With the special shortened and times extremely close, despite his overall speed on the stage, Walkner was unable to retake as much time as he would have liked. However, making the minimum of mistakes, the 2021 FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Champion was able to steer his KTM 450 RALLY to the finish in 10th place, successfully defending his third-place position in the overall event standings.

Matthias Walkner: “It was a really, really fast stage today. The guys in front did a good job of navigating, so even though we had some lines in the wet sand, it was hard to make up that much time. I’m lying third in the overall, but it’s still very early, so we’ll see what tomorrow brings.”

Suffering a technical issue yesterday, Tech3 KTM Factory Racing’s Danilo Petrucci was forced to withdraw from the stage. Returning to the team at the bivouac, the electrical problem was found and rectified, and the Italian rider was cleared to rejoin the race, although he will no longer feature in the event classification. Setting off 51st into today’s stage three, Petrucci immediately began fighting for a top-20 position, despite the traffic he had to encounter. A small mistake towards the end of the stage cost him a couple of minutes, but Danilo was able to hold on for an impressive 22nd place.

Danilo Petrucci: “I’m really happy to be able to continue riding today after the issue I had yesterday. Yes, I’ve lost one stage, but it feels good to be racing again. I really enjoyed the stage today, the goal was just to get to the end, but it was very fast and really good fun. There were a lot of lines in the sand, but I still tried to read the roadbook and learn more in the way of my own navigation. I did make a couple of small mistakes, but it feels so good to be back on the bike. I have nine more stages to continue learning and I’m looking forward to it.”

Provisional Results Stage Three (overall) – 2022 Dakar Rally

1. Joaquim Rodrigues (POR), Hero, 2:34:41

2. Toby Price (AUS), KTM, 2:35:44 +1:03

3. Mason Klein (USA), KTM, 2:35:55 +1:14

4. Skyler Howes (USA), Husqvarna, 2:36:07 +1:26

5. Daniel Sanders (AUS), GASGAS, 2:37:36 +2:55

Other KTM

8. Kevin Benavides (ARG), KTM, 2:39:09 +4:28

10. Matthias Walkner (AUT), KTM, 2:39:33 +4:52

22. Danilo Petrucci (ITA), KTM, 2:44:02 +9:21

Provisional Standings – 2022 Dakar Rally after 3 of 12 stages

1. Sam Sunderland (GBR), GASGAS, 11:13:40

2. Adrien Van Beveren (FRA), Yamaha, 11:13:44 +0:04

3. Matthias Walkner (AUT), KTM, 11:15:10 +1:30

4. Skyler Howes (USA), Husqvarna, 11:17:35 +3:55

5. Daniel Sanders (AUS), GASGAS, 11:22:34 +8:54

Other KTM

8. Kevin Benavides (ARG), KTM, 11:31:24 +17:45

14. Toby Price (AUS), KTM, 11:40:01 +26:21

Editorial Update: KTM Factory Racing has announced via social media that Danilo Petrucci was forced to stop due to an electrical issue. He will restart the rally Tuesday, but he will not be in the official classification.

SAM SUNDERLAND SHINES ON DAKAR RALLY STAGE TWO

FORMER DAKAR CHAMP TAKES PROVISIONAL EVENT LEAD WITH TEAMMATE DANIEL SANDERS NOW CLOSE BEHIND IN THIRD

Oh, it’s tight at the top now! Starting sixth on stage two of the 2022 Dakar Rally, Sam Sunderland put together a faultless display of riding and navigation to catch the front runners, lead the stage, and then bring his GASGAS RC 450F Rally home in a fine second place. The strong result moves the Brit to the top of the provisional leaderboard where he now enjoys a near three-minute advantage over his nearest rival. Fresh from taking his maiden Dakar stage win yesterday, Daniel Sanders did a great job of opening the majority of today’s stage, frustratingly making a small but costly navigational error on his way into the finish, which led to him ending the special close to 25 minutes behind the day’s winner.

Sam Sunderland produces exceptional form on stage two

Two GASGAS RC 450F bikes inside the provisional top three

Early rally leader Daniel Sanders now lies third overall

Sam Sunderland: “It was an interesting day today and it certainly went a bit more smoothly than yesterday, which is what I wanted. I started sixth and focused on just pushing hard to catch the leaders. There was some tricky navigation, but I figured out the way pretty quickly and caught up to Van Beveren. We then caught up with a few more of the leading guys so from there onwards we took it in turns to navigate and it was a pretty cool way to end the stage.”

Keeping a cool head in the face of adversity is an essential attribute to rally success so when Daniel Sanders found himself on the wrong side of canyon nearing the end of stage two, he had to make a quick decision. Instead of turning back, he opted to jump his GASGAS RC 450F clean over it to get himself back in the race, which, fortunately, worked out perfectly! From there onwards it was a hard charge to the finish line. Despite losing a little bit of time, Sanders lies in a strong third in the overall provisional classification, just three-and-a-half minutes down on teammate Sunderland.

Daniel Sanders: “Today was pretty wild to begin with as it was pretty cloudy and the stage was super-fast early on. I had a good day going until after a fuel stop where I went down the wrong side of a canyon and lost a little bit of time. In the end I had to jump over it to get out of it but once back on the right line I pushed on to the finish. A little frustrating but I was able to make up some time in the dunes so all in all, not a bad day really.”

Results (provisional): Dakar Rally 2022, stage 2

1. Joan Barreda (Honda) 3:31:20

2. Sam Sunderland (GASGAS) 3:36.53

3. Kevin Benavides (KTM) 3:37.14

23. Daniel Sanders (GASGAS) 3:56.18

Overall Provisional Classification (after stage 2)

1. Sam Sunderland (GASGAS) 8:31.29

2. Adrien Van Beveren (Yamaha) 8:34:20

3. Daniel Sanders (GASGAS) 8:34.58

More, from a press release issued by KTM Factory Racing:

THIRD PLACE FINISH FOR KEVIN BENAVIDES ON DAKAR STAGE TWO

Dakar Rally 2022 – Stage Two

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Kevin Benavides has finished third on the fast and technical stage two of the Dakar Rally. Teammates Toby Price and Matthias Walkner also delivered strong results, finishing fifth and 14th respectively. Tech3 KTM Factory Racing’s Danilo Petrucci’s day came to a premature end when a technical issue forced him to withdraw from the stage.

Totaling 570 kilometers, day two of the Dakar challenged competitors with a series of tricky-to-navigate fast tracks and open dunes. Navigation, although not as testing as during the event’s opening stage, still caught out many as they made their way from Ha’il to Al Artawiya.

Completing stage one in 14th place, defending Dakar Champion Kevin Benavides made the very best use of his starting position to make up time on his rivals. With his KTM 450 RALLY performing perfectly beneath him, Benavides was able to work his way up the rankings as the day progressed, moving into the top three by the halfway point. From there, the experienced Argentinian maintained a strong pace to the finish, ultimately claiming third, just under six minutes down on the stage winner.

Kevin Benavides: “Today was a good day, especially after such a tough day yesterday. I started near the back and was able to push really hard. The special today was really fast in places, but also quite complicated – you had to know where to attack and where to focus on your navigation. It’s only day two and everything can happen at the Dakar – there are always ups and downs. I’m looking forward to the next few days.”

Also one of the riders to lose time on the event’s first full stage, Toby Price’s second day at the 2022 Dakar thankfully went very much the same way as teammate Benavides’, with the Aussie building his pace throughout the day and fighting his way up the order. Completing the stage as fifth fastest, earning himself a strong start position for day three, Toby will aim to cut his deficit to the leaders once again tomorrow.

Toby Price: “Today went a lot better than yesterday, and I was able to claw back a little time on the leaders. It’s always tough when you lose a big chunk of time early on, but it’s still very early days and there’s a lot of racing left. The bike is really good – I’m feeling really comfortable – so let’s continue tomorrow and see what happens.”

Despite being the third rider to enter the timed special on stage two, Matthias Walkner was able to maintain a strong pace while delivering accurate navigation on the fast stage, completing the day in 14th. The result means that the 2021 FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Champion now sits in a solid fourth place overall, with an advantageous start position to look forward to on Tuesday’s stage three.

Matthias Walkner: “I had a good stage today, I started third so that was always going to be quite tough. After the refueling, the guys in front made a mistake, I stayed on the wrong line too for a little while, but then realized my mistake and was able to get back on course. For the rest of the stage I was riding with another couple of riders with us taking it in turns to open. Navigation was really tricky, but I think we did a good job.”

Tech3 KTM Factory Racing’s Danilo Petrucci suffered a technical issue early on in the stage that brought his day to a premature end.

Provisional Results Stage Two (overall) – 2022 Dakar Rally

1. Joan Barreda (ESP), Honda, 3:31:20

2. Sam Sunderland (GBR), GASGAS, 3:36:53 +5:33

3. Kevin Benavides (ARG), KTM, 3:37:14 +5:54

4. Skyler Howes (USA), Husqvarna, 3:37:36 +6:16

5. Toby Price (AUS), KTM, 3:38:20 +7:00

Other KTM

14. Matthias Walkner (AUT), KTM, 3:45:51 +14:31

Provisional Standings – 2022 Dakar Rally after 2 of 12 stages

1. Sam Sunderland (GBR), GASGAS, 8:31:29

2. Adrien Van Beveren (FRA), Yamaha, 8:34:20 +2:51

3. Daniel Sanders (AUS), GASGAS, 8:34:58 +3:29

4. Matthias Walkner (AUT), KTM, 8:35:37 +4:08

5. Skyler Howes (USA), Husqvarna, 8:41:28 +9:59

Other KTM

11. Kevin Benavides (ARG), KTM, 8:52:16 +20:47

15. Toby Price (AUS), KTM, 9:04:17 +32:48

More, from a press release issued by Husqvarna Factory Racing:

FOURTH PLACE FINISH FOR HUSQVARNA FACTORY RACING ON STAGE TWO OF DAKAR RALLY 2022

SKYLER HOWES FINISHES JUST SIX MINUTES DOWN ON TODAY’S STAGE WINNER TO JUMP TO FIFTH IN THE GENERAL STANDINGS

Putting the challenging opening stage of the 2022 Dakar Rally firmly behind him, Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Skyler Howes has claimed a solid fourth-place result on the 554-kilometre stage two from Al Ha’il to Artawiyah. The FR 450 Rally rider now lies an impressive fifth overall in the provisional rally standings. Luciano Benavides fought his way back from a 38th place start to claim a solid 17th at the finish of the stage.

Starting the special stage as the 10th rider to set off, Skyler was quickly up to speed and chasing down the riders ahead of him, once again pushing hard but not taking any unnecessary risks so early on in the event. Enjoying the fast tracks and wet sandy conditions, the American was soon knocking on the door of a top-three finish, eventually bringing his FR 450 Rally home in fourth and just over six minutes behind the day’s stage winner, Sam Sunderland.

One of a number of riders to lose a considerable amount of time during yesterday’s stage one, Luciano Benavides started today’s stage two way back in 38th position. With a large number of competitors ahead of him, the Argentinian worked his way up 20 places before the day’s first checkpoint. Maintaining a strong pace, a small navigational error cost Luciano another few minutes in the latter kilometres of the special, but the young Argentinian was able to hold on to ultimately claim 17th for the day.

Skyler Howes: “The stage went well for me – I felt pretty comfortable riding on the wet sand. The dunes and the fast, sandy tracks were a lot of fun to ride, so today was really enjoyable, especially after some of the stresses of yesterday. I felt like I rode at a pretty good pace, and I’m happy with my result. It puts me in a good position for stage three, so I hope I can maximise on that. My focus is just to keep putting in solid rides, and make sure that I stay focused on the navigation. Overall, I’m really happy with how today went.”

Luciano Benavides: “Day two is done. I started quite far back and thought I would be able to use that to my advantage to make up as much time as I could on the guys in front. But with the rain making the sand really wet, following the tracks in front became very difficult as the route became quite rutted in places and it was difficult to push. I felt good with my rhythm and was still making good time, but then I made a little mistake towards the end of the stage that cost me some minutes. Overall I feel good, and the bike is great – 10 more stages to go.”

2022 Dakar Rally – Stage 2 Provisional Classification

1. Joan Barreda (Honda) 3:31:20

2. Sam Sunderland (GASGAS) 3:36:53

3. Kevin Benavides (KTM) 3:37:14

4. Skyler Howes (Husqvarna) 3:37:36

5. Toby Price (KTM) 3:38:20

…

17. Luciano Benavides (Husqvarna) 3:52:41

2022 Dakar Rally – Overall Provisional Classification (after stage 2)

1. Sam Sunderland (GASGAS) 8:31:29

2. Adrien Van Beveren (Yamaha) 8:34:20

3. Daniel Sanders (GASGAS) 8:34:58

4. Matthias Walkner (KTM) 8:35:37

5. Skyler Howes (Husqvarna) 8:41:28

…

27. Luciano Benavides (Husqvarna) 9:34:52

More, from a press release issued by Monster Energy Honda Team:

First stage win for the Monster Energy Honda Team at the 2022 Dakar. Barreda, the rider with the third highest number of stage victories

With today’s triumph, Joan Barreda now holds a tally of 28 Dakar Rally stage wins. The Monster Energy Honda Team rider is the third most successful motorcycle rider in the rally’s history after Peterhansel and Despres (33). The general standings underwent a slight reshuffle today, with Pablo Quintanilla now in seventh place.

This second stage of the 2022 Dakar Rally brought about some changes as had earlier been predicted. Downpours over the last few days in the northern part of Saudi Arabia caused some flooding, such as the wash-out at the Al Artawiyah bivouac for the Marathon stage. As a consequence, the organisers yesterday decided to switch the stage 2 destination to the camp set up at Al Qaisumah. The 338.43-kilometre special stage, however, remained intact, but with the riders’ liaison section to the new bivouac lengthened for a total 453-kilometre trek. Dunes were the main feature of the day: a quarter of the timed special stage was made up of various ridges of dunes.

Joan Barreda expressed his satisfaction with the day’s proceedings on reaching Al Qaisumah. The Spaniard, who started from a favourable position to attack, let no-one stand between him and his goal, completing the special with a surplus of five-and-a-half minutes over the stage’s nearest second best rider. José Ignacio ‘Nacho’ Cornejo was clearly ill at ease on terrain not suited to his style. Elsewhere, American Ricky Brabec – after a dismal stage yesterday where he dropped a lot of time – came out with the intention of whittling down the gap and will hope to improve further over the forthcoming stages.

Pablo Quintanilla was the second RallyGP rider to take the start today. From the chilly bivouac of Ha’il, and after a 183-kilometre liaison section, the Chilean rider tried to keep a close tab on the race leader who had started ahead of him. Quintanilla pressed hard, going on to open the track, but was unable to shake off Sanders. In the end, the handicap of having opened the track had taken its toll with the Chilean making a slight error and losing time but nevertheless managed to limit the damage. The Monster Energy Honda Team rider currently lies in seventh, 12-and-a-half minutes adrift of the leader.

Tomorrow’s stage

Stage 3 has also been affected due to the change of today’s bivouac. Race organisers yesterday decided to cancel the first sector of the special, so riders will not have to complete the 368-kilometre timed stage. The first riders are expected to arrive back in Al Qaisumah at approximately 13:00.

Ricky Brabec  2

STAGE: 15TH  OVERALL: 19TH

I don’t think I had a difficult day today, I didn’t really make any mistakes. It was a very cold day. I started quite far back and for me it was like a motocross track, no navigation. I had a lot of lines to follow. The hardest part was riding in the wet sand with the big ruts that had been made by the bikes that had gone out in front. It was a very fast stage. We started to get into the sand dunes and it was a physical day. It’s only the second day… let’s hope we have energy at the end of the rally! We will keep pushing for the next few days because we are really far behind. Yesterday 90% of the competitors got lost with some notes that didn’t make sense and today I had another problem like that. The Dakar is tough.
Pablo Quintanilla  7

STAGE: 23RD  OVERALL: 7TH

It wasn’t such a good stage for me, we knew we were going to lose time; there were 330 kilometres of sand with 80 kilometres of dunes. I was opening up the track from kilometre 170 onwards and at kilometre 260 I made a mistake and lost some time trying to understand what the mistake was so that I could get back on the right track. We’ve had navigation surprises for two days now. For sure this week will be very difficult. We will see how we can face the next stages. I’m calm and we know that there are always good and bad days on the Dakar. We have to stay calm, stay focused and keep optimistic until the end.

José Ignacio Cornejo  11

STAGE: 13TH  OVERALL: 18TH

We finished a stage where we suffered a lot from the cold. It was a stage where I felt good, I went better than on the previous days and, although there is something to improve, I think it can come in the coming days. I’m finding my speed and concentration. Let’s see what happens in the next few days. I’ll try to have some good stages to improve in the general standings. I remain positive, the rally has only just started and there is still a lot of room for improvement.
Joan Barreda  88

STAGE: 1ST  OVERALL: 10TH

I’m happy with today, especially after yesterday’s hard day, where several riders got lost. To make up time in the general standings is good, and we have to be aware that there are ten days ahead and that anything can happen. We are physically in good shape and we are looking forward to it. We have worked all year to get here in good shape, so now is the time to get it all out. I am also happy to be the third rider in the history of the Dakar with the most stage victories. I’m proud of the work I’ve done over the years and the mark I’ve left.

MATTHIAS WALKNER FINISHES THIRD ON OPENING STAGE OF DAKAR RALLY 2022

Dakar Rally 2022 – Stage One

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Matthias Walkner, Toby Price, and Kevin Benavides have all successfully completed the first proper day of racing at the 2022 Dakar Rally – a challenging 514 kilometer looped stage from Ha’il to Ha’il. Managing to avoid the worst of the costly navigational issues that affected many of the leading riders, Matthias Walkner finished third fastest, eight-and-a-half minutes down on the day’s stage winner. Kevin Benavides ended the stage in 14th with Toby Price placing 22nd overall. Tech3 KTM Factory Racing’s Danilo Petrucci enjoyed a positive day to finish 13th.

As the 11th rider to start today’s special stage following his fifth place finish in the event’s opening prologue, Matthias Walkner pushed hard from the start and, throughout the opening six waypoints, made up good time on the riders ahead of him. Running into a navigational issue mid-way between waypoints six and seven, Walkner was able to quickly find his way and end the stage in a strong third place.

Matthias Walkner: “It was a good day but super tricky with the navigation today. The rain certainly made the sand harder and things a little more challenging, but a few of us worked together, riding in a fast, strong group at the end of the stage to make sure that we arrived at the finish in a good way. In the morning the rain made the sand firmer and really nice to ride on, but at the end of the day it was much more challenging and harder to ride on. Although today was a hard day, it’s only the first day of the rally. We saw it last year, you can lose or win 30 minutes or so, but at this early stage in the race that doesn’t mean too much.”

While the first true stage of the 2022 Dakar Rally was a good one for Matthias Walkner, for teammate Kevin Benavides it proved to be a highly challenging one. Following his third fastest time in yesterday’s prologue, Kevin opted to start today’s stage as the 13th rider, which for the majority of the special proved to be hugely beneficial. However mid-way between waypoints six and seven, Kevin became one of many riders to make navigational errors, ultimately leading to a loss of time and an eventual 14th place finish.

Kevin Benavides: “The only thing I can really say is that today was not the best first day for me. There was a lot of confusion surrounding one note on the road book, which caused a lot of different riders, myself included, to make a mistake. It was such a frustrating situation. Finally, I was able to find the correct track, but of course I lost a lot of time. The important thing is that I felt really good on my bike. There’s a lot of kilometers still to race, so it’s important to stay positive and go again tomorrow, and push for good results.”

In stark contrast to his winning ride on stage one of last year’s Dakar Rally, Toby Price unfortunately endured a hugely frustrating opening stage. As one of the many riders to run into the same navigational issue, the Australian would eventually complete the special 47 minutes down on countryman and stage winner Daniel Sanders.

Toby Price: “The stage was a bit of a rough one for me today. There was one note that just didn’t seem to add up properly, didn’t quite make sense to me, so I ended up getting lost for 45, maybe 50, minutes. So, not a good way to start the rally. But it’s early days and let’s see what happens. No crashes, so that’s good, but a costly navigation mistake. I’ll keep my head down and keep at it and see what tomorrow brings.”

Faring well during his first ever Dakar Rally special stage, Danilo Petrucci was able to benefit from his starting position of 33rd and follow the tracks ahead of him, ending end the stage 13th fastest. Arriving at the troublesome waypoints after the leading riders, the Italian was able to avoid issues and went on to enjoy a notably positive result.

Danilo Petrucci: “I’m really, really happy to finish my first real Dakar stage. I was so nervous at the start. Generally, all went ok for me but the 120 kilometers after the refueling seemed really, really long for me, especially with the big dunes.”

Press release written using provisional official results available at time of publishing, which might be subject to change.

Provisional Results Stage One (overall) – 2022 Dakar Rally

1. Daniel Sanders (AUS), GASGAS, 4:38:40

2. Pablo Quintanilla (CHL), Honda, 4:41:47

3. Matthias Walkner (AUT), KTM 4:49:46

4. Adrien Van Beveren (FRA), Yamaha, 4:51:26

5. Mason Klein (USA), KTM, 4:53:14

Other KTM

13. Danilo Petrucci (ITA), KTM, 5:11:09

14. Kevin Benavides (ARG), KTM, 5:15:02

22. Toby Price (AUS), KTM, 5:25:57

More, from a press release issued by GASGAS Factory Racing:

DANIEL SANDERS TOPS THE TIMESHEETS ON DAKAR RALLY STAGE 1

GASGAS FACTORY RACING’S AUSSIE HARD CHARGER MAKES THE PERFECT START TO DAKAR 2022

After setting a blistering time and winning yesterday’s Prologue, Daniel Sanders has maintained his impressive speed to secure victory on today’s opening stage of the 2022 Dakar Rally! Opting to enter the stage as the 15th rider and chase down the riders ahead, the Aussie’s game plan worked perfectly with the GASGAS RC 450F Rally racer winning the special by over three minutes to maintain his place at the top of the overall provisional classification. For Sam Sunderland, despite struggling to find a waypoint along with many of his rivals, the Brit ultimately completed the stage as the sixth fastest rider.

Daniel Sanders leads the 2022 Dakar Rally!

Strong start for Sam on his GASGAS debut

Both riders eager and excited for stage two

Daniel Sanders: “So far things are shaping up really good. After winning the Prologue yesterday I got to choose my starting position and opted to start in 15th and then focus on chasing after the guys up front. There was some tricky navigation near the end of the special but I kept cool, avoided any huge errors and then l lead the stage to the end. This was great for me as it made sure I focused on my roadbook and as I’ll lead out tomorrow – it was good to get a little experience of riding alone up front. I’m excited for tomorrow and looking forward to the challenge ahead.”

Enjoying a strong debut ride aboard GASGAS machinery at the 2022 Dakar Rally, Sam Sunderland was well placed and running up front with the leading riders until until finding one of the waypoints late on in the 334-kilometer special proved anything but easy. After losing valuable time along with many of his rivals, Sunderland quickly found his way and pushed to the end of the special to secure his sixth-place finish.

Sam Sunderland: “The first proper day is done and it’s safe to say that we went straight in at the deep end! My navigation was good all day but when we got to kilometer 276 there was a waypoint which was really difficult to find. A few of us went around in circles but once I found it my only option was to push as hard as I could to make up for lost time. It’s been a tough first day but there’s such a long way to go, hopefully tomorrow will go a little more smoothly.”

Results (provisional): Dakar Rally 2022, stage 1B

1. Daniel Sanders (GASGAS) 4:38.40

2. Pablo Quintanilla (Honda) 4:41:47

3. Matthias Walkner (KTM) 4:49.46

6. Sam Sunderland (GASGAS) 4:54.36

More, from a press release issued by Husqvarna Factory Racing:

DEMANDING OPENING SPECIAL STAGE FOR HUSQVARNA FACTORY RACING AT DAKAR 2022

FIRST TRUE SPECIAL STAGE OF DAKAR RALLY 2022 PROVES CHALLENGING FOR SKYLER HOWES AND LUCIANO BENAVIDES

At the end of a demanding opening day of competition at the 2022 Dakar Rally it was Skyler Howes who claimed Husqvarna Factory Racing’s best result, the American completed the 546-kilometre stage as the 10th fastest rider despite a navigational issue hampering his performance. Teammate Luciano Benavides was less fortunate, ending the day in 38th position having been among the first riders to arrive at a troublesome section of the special stage, going on to lose valuable time trying to find the correct route through the stage.

Opting to ride cautiously during yesterday’s opening prologue so as to avoid being among the first riders into today’s special stage, Skyler was the 22nd rider to begin the first true special stage of the 2022 Dakar Rally. Steadily working his way forward while settling himself into the stage, the American improved to place just outside the top 10 as he arrived at the day’s most challenging navigational section. Thankfully, trusting his instincts, he lost little time and was able to ride on for an eventual 10th place result, earning a beneficial starting position for tomorrow’s second stage.

Unfortunately for Skyler’s teammate Luciano Benavides, the Argentinian saw what began as a positive day’s work come undone mid-way between the refuelling stop and the end of the special stage. One of the first rider to enter the stage, and a lead rider for much of the day, Luciano struggled to find the day’s decisive and all-important waypoint. Dropping more than one hour to the fastest rider by the time he reached the end of the special, Luciano eventually placed 38th.

Skyler Howes: “Today’s stage was actually quite fun to ride. It was the first stage of this year’s Dakar so I wasn’t pushing too hard. There were a lot of tracks and a lot of camel grass, so it was easy to get caught out. I just used the stage to feel my way into things early on, but then made a pretty big navigational error and just got things really wrong, like a lot of riders did. Thankfully, I went with my gut instincts and rode over a hill, then another hill, met up with some other riders that were looking for the waypoint and from there managed to find the waypoint before riding together to the finish. Apart from that the day was fun and my bike was great, so onto tomorrow.”

Luciano Benavides: “You always hope that when you are one of the first riders to start a special stage that there won’t be any big difficulties, but today there were. I ended up in all the drama with the one note that a lot of riders struggled with. After doing a good job opening the stage, at one point I was one of 10 or 12 riders all lost, which is really frustrating. Not the way I wanted the rally to start, but we will race hard during the remaining 11 stages.”

2022 Dakar Rally – Stage 1 Provisional Classification

1. Daniel Sanders (GASGAS) 4:38:40

2. Pablo Quintanilla (Honda) 4:41:47

3. Matthias Walkner (KTM) 4:49:46

4. Adrien Van Beveren (Yamaha) 4:51:26

5. Mason Klein (KTM) 4:53:14

…

10. Skyler Howes (Husqvarna) 5:03:52

38. Luciano Benavides (Husqvarna) 5:42:11

More from a press release issued by Monster Energy Honda Team:

Quintanilla replicates second place at the end of the first Dakar 2022 stage

Today marks the end of the first stage of the Dakar Rally 2022, which began yesterday with the prologue. Pablo Quintanilla repeated yesterday’s position and remains in contention for the race lead.

Yesterday’s prologue stage was a mere curtain-raiser for the riders, but today the Dakar challenge turned serious. Navigation was the main protagonist of the day at several key points along the sandy tracks of the 333-kilometre special stage, in particular, some 50 kilometres from the end of the special where several riders lost their way. However, with the Dakar barely underway, anything can still potentially happen. The Monster Energy Honda Team riders are fairly confident that there will be other instances, similar to today’s, in store over the coming stages.

Pablo Quintanilla produced a fine performance today, arriving at the Ha’il bivouac satisfied with both his riding prowess and navigation. The rider set a fine pace to hold on to his position in the general standings securing another runner-up spot on the stage.

The day proved to be a complicated one for Joan Barreda, Ricky Brabec and José Ignacio Cornejo. The three experienced complications at one of the stage’s trickiest points and ended up conceding several minutes, dropping them down the RallyGP order.

The second stage of the Dakar, set to take place tomorrow, will be dominated by dunes. There will be several stretches of dunes occupying about a quarter of the 338-kilometre special stage. With a total of 568 kilometres, this was intended to be the only marathon stage of the 2022 Dakar, finishing in Al Artawiyah, but due to a heavy downpour yesterday which flooded the originally planned site, the bivouac has been moved to Al Qaisumah. As a result, there is no scheduled marathon stage and RallyGP riders will be able to receive external mechanical assistance like on any other race day.

Ricky Brabec  2

STAGE: 23RD  OVERALL: 21ST

I feel like my rally is over. I said the same thing last year on the first day, but I lost a lot more time today. I opened the stage really well today, I thought, until I let my team-mate passed me for three minutes. Here we are now, really far back. I hope my team-mate Pablo has a good rally and we are here for him. The navigation was, honestly, really tricky before refuelling and I did a really good job – I was by myself. At about kilometre 257 we lost the way. We decided to go cap 10 average on a piste. Joan, Toby, Andrew and Kevin never saw a piste that went 10 average. I went back two or three times and never found it. We made big circles until we found it and then we rode together until the end.

Pablo Quintanilla  7

STAGE: 2ND  OVERALL: 2ND

It was a tough, complicated day. Last night it rained and washed out some tracks, the route was barely visible. I tried to push throughout the whole stage, even at the note at kilometre 268, where there was a hidden waypoint that was very difficult to find. I took it easy, navigated well and in the end it turned out to be a good day. It was very physically demanding, with a lot of changes of direction, on tracks that were not very visible, very fast and stone-filled… but I feel good, with good pace. I think it was a great day.

José Ignacio Cornejo  11

STAGE: 18TH  OVERALL: 18TH

It was a tough stage, at the beginning I rode conservatively, not very fast, and not going badly. But from the refuelling onwards I started to push a bit, I picked up the pace, the speed and I felt much better. There was a confusing note near the end. I was following what the roadbook said but I wasn’t very confident that it was right. It didn’t make sense what I was doing… In the end, I followed the tracks and ended up finding the waypoint. I’m not sure if it was my mistake, but we’ll keep looking ahead because there’s still a long way to go.

Joan Barreda  88

STAGE: 15TH  OVERALL: 15TH

It was a difficult stage, the whole day was tough, but especially during the final 50 kilometres, where there was a note with a waypoint that was not visible. We arrived with very few references and it was almost impossible to find it; we had to do a very long loop, I went through the same place several times and at the end I was even starting to worry about the fuel. In the end, with the reference of other drivers I was able to find it. But well, it’s the first day, there’s still a long Dakar ahead and this is a taster of what everyone can expect over the coming days.