Dakar | Moto, Stage 7: Cornejo's hat-trick, only 1″ between Brabec and Branch!

The 2024 Dakar is more open than ever in the motorcycle category. In fact, when there are five stages to go, there is barely a second separating the top two in the general classification and if the contest widens to the top three the gap remains less than seven minutes. The race, therefore, is still open to any type of prediction and result. After the day of well-deserved rest in Riyadh, the caravan set off towards Al Duwadimi, thus leaving the desert of the Empty Quarter behind it. And waiting for the motorcyclists there were 483 km of very varied sand, dunes and even rocky sections.

The winner in the end was Nacho Cornejo, who achieved his third victory in this edition of the Dakar, after those of the second and fourth stages. In this way the Chilean from Honda forcefully relaunched his bid for final success, because he regained third position in the general classification from his teammate Adrien van Beveren, but above all he reduced his gap from the top to 6'48″. the gap would be even smaller if Cornejo had not incurred a six-minute penalty in the second part of the 48 Hours stage.

The leadership still remained in the hands of Ricky Brabec, who was able to take advantage of 3'58″ of bonuses obtained for having opened the track. At the end of the timed section, the gap of the American from Honda was in fact reduced to 7'26 “, placing him in fifth place in the day's rankings. And the bonuses made the difference, preventing his direct pursuer Ross Branch from overtaking him in the general classification. The Hero standard bearer, in fact, finished fourth of the stage at 6'36”, without “discounts”, and this brought him, as mentioned, just one second behind Brabec.

The two Benavides brothers climbed ahead of the two leaders in the general classification, with Kevin, the winner of the last edition of the Dakar, who fought until the end to try to take home the stage. The KTM rider commanded the operations until km 251, then gave way to Cornejo, finishing the special 32″ behind the Chilean.

With this exploit, the Argentine moved back to fifth place in the general classification, albeit at 21'39″, once again becoming the best among the Austrian brand's riders. In fact, he overtook his teammate Toby Price, who was forced to start second this morning and therefore in the end he was 11'26″ behind Cornejo despite 3'58″ of bonuses. In the general classification he now serves just over half an hour on the leader with his sixth position, in which he precedes Daniel Sanders' GasGas, today sixth in stage.

As mentioned, however, the special stage of the other Benavides, Luciano, was also good, third in the stage at 3'12″ with his Husqvarna. However, it remains difficult for the reigning world champion to continue to believe in the possibility of winning the Dakar , because his gap in the overall standings is 43'12″, even if a 15 minute penalty weighs on this.

After the victory in the first, historic, 48-hour stage, Adrien van Beveren found himself having to open the track. The Honda rider therefore had to play in defence, trying to limit the damage, despite being able to count on 5'37″ of bonuses. In the end he found himself closing at 12'44″, seeing his time rise to 14'39″ his gap in the general classification, in which he is now fourth. However, pay attention to the Frenchman with a view to tomorrow's stage, in which he will be able to count on an excellent starting position to try to make up ground.

Unfortunately, we must note the withdrawal of Paolo Lucci, who up until now had been the protagonist of a race that had kept him in the top 15 overall. The Italian rider fell at km 192 and called for medical assistance. Fortunately, he was able to stand up on his own two feet, but was still flown by helicopter to Al Duwadimi Hospital to undergo a more thorough check-up.

Problems also for Pablo Quintanilla, who had already fallen behind in recent days when he ran out of fuel in the first part of the 48-hour stage. The Chilean lost about an hour and a quarter today to repair a mechanical failure on his Honda, so it becomes very complicated for him to even hope for a top 10 finish.

Dakar 2024 | General Moto ranking after Stage 7