Each time the name that wins the stage is different, but for now the 2024 Dakar has been strongly Honda-tinged in these first days of the race. In fact, Pablo Quintanilla achieved a victory in the third stage, which is already the third in just four days for the Japanese manufacturer. The seventh career Dakar for the South American driver.
Today's stage, which included 438 timed km between Al Duwadimi and Al Salamiya, was particularly close, with the first four arriving at the final finish line separated from each other by less than two minutes, leaving the doubt of who would have been to impose itself.
As mentioned, in the end it was the Chilean from Honda who prevailed, preceding Joan Barreda by 1'38″ who therefore came very close to signing his first success on the Hero, after his very long spell with Honda. But today's was a special that seems to have rewarded the most experienced riders, because the winner of the 2023 edition, the Argentinian Kevin Benavides, also reappeared among the best, finishing third at 1'46″ with his KTM .
In the small group that fought for the victory there was also Ricky Brabec, fourth at 1'57″ with his Honda. However, it was also a good day for the leader of the general classification Ross Branch, who with his Hero took care of above all to stay out of trouble, placing fifth at 4'04″ from the winner. In the overall classification, therefore, he managed to slightly increase his margin against his direct pursuer, the other Chilean José Cornejo, who follows him at 4'11″ after having closed the special with the eighth time at 5'20″ , also favored by 4'22″ of bonuses.
The Botswana pilot really has to watch his back from the HRC squadron, which occupies all the positions between second and fifth in the general ranking. Behind Cornejo we find Brabec at 5'08″, followed by Quintanilla at 11'16″. But Adrien van Beveren also made a good leap forward, now occupying fifth place, albeit 21'16″ behind him. A statement that also applies to Kevin Benavides, who is now the first KTM rider in sixth position, just 16″ further back.
Even today we must record some important abandonments in this category: the first was that of Sam Sunderland, betrayed by a technical problem suffered by his GasGas after just 11 km. The two-time Dakar winner tried to repair the fault for over three and a half hours, then had to surrender to the evidence that his race was over.
Sebastian Buhler was also out, with the Hero driver suffering an accident after 360 km. The German, who received first aid from Toby Price and Skyler Howes, was conscious and moving all his limbs, but was quite sore in his back. For this reason he was transported to hospital by helicopter to undergo a complete check-up.
Once they reached the finish line, Howes and Price saw the time they spent alongside Buhler given back, with the American therefore moving up to seventh place on the stage, five minutes behind the winner. Close to the top 10 was the Australian, who with bonuses finished 8'05″ behind Quintanilla.
Mason Klein was also unlucky, having been the fastest in the very early stages of the stage, once again showing the growing potential of the Kove. However, the Chinese bike, just like yesterday, continued to show its reliability gaps, forcing him to stop twice for repairs. For him, therefore, this Dakar is becoming a real ordeal.
Among the Italians Paolo Lucci shines once again, 25th of the day with the KTM of Bas World Racing, with a delay of 27'12″. A little further back is Tommaso Montanari's Fantic, credited with the 33rd time at 37'02″ .
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