Dakar | Moto, Stage 4: Cornejo does an encore and becomes leader

The fourth stage of the 2024 Dakar was Nacho Cornejo's great day, with the Honda rider who in one fell swoop took his second victory in this edition and the leadership of the general classification in the motorcycle race. The Chilean, who had already scored in the second stage, was the fastest along the almost 300 timed km planned between Al Salamiya and Al-Hofuf. A route with a faster surface than that of the previous days, but which always hid important pitfalls in terms of navigation.

Cornejo's was a real domination today. Only at km 36 did he pass with a delay of just 5″ compared to Ross Branch's Hero, then from km 82 he took command of the operations and never let go until the finish line, where he arrived with a margin of 2″. '59″ on teammate Ricky Brabec, who wasn't enough with a time bonus of 1'01″ to close the gap.

The same thing can also be said for the winner of the last edition, the Argentinian Kevin Benavides, who with his KTM finished third at 3'18″, despite being able to count on a bonus of 3'42″ for having opened the track . A bonus which in any case served him to keep Branch behind him, fourth at 4'26″ and who reached the finish line with the handlebars crooked on his Hero. A sign of some possible mishaps encountered along the way, which also cost him the top spot in the general classification, in which Cornejo now precedes him by 1'15″.

However, also watch out for Brabec, who silently is always in the podium area in the general classification with a gap of just under five minutes. Then the gap opens to find Kevin Benavides in fourth position, although the KTM representative would probably have signed a few days ago to be only 20 minutes away after five days of racing, considering that he had to recover from several injuries and is not yet at 100% condition.

In today's stage Adrien van Beveren, Joan Barreda and the reigning world champion Luciano Benavides also stood out, finishing between fifth and seventh position with gaps of between five and seven minutes. Therefore, the Frenchman from Honda is fifth in the general, in which he now finds himself sandwiched between the Benavides, with Kevin who has just overtaken him and the Husqvarna standard bearer who instead follows him by about ten minutes. However, “Bang Bang” remains outside the absolute top 10, paying above all for the penalties incurred in the last two stages.

It was not an easy stage for Pablo Quintanilla, who had a gap of 18'39″, probably due to a navigation error. The Chilean from Honda is therefore now seventh in the general, more than 31 minutes behind. As he Toby Price lost out, who paid for a quarter of an hour and now follows him by a few seconds. Daniel Sanders, the only GasGas driver remaining in the race after the withdrawal of Sam Sunderland, who fell out of the top 10, also did badly.

Speaking of happy notes, however, we cannot fail to mention Paolo Lucci, because the Italian rider was the protagonist of a special stage, finishing with the 12th time with his KTM, just 12'56″ behind. A performance that brings the standard bearer of the Bas World KTM Racing Team inside the top 20 also in the general classification.

Quad: Andujar is the new leader

In the race reserved for the Quads, Juraj Varga's leadership did not last long. The Slovakian driver stopped along the route after 238 km, but had previously been almost half an hour late. In the end he managed to resume his pace, but closed after more than three quarters of an hour.

It was Manuel Andujar who took advantage of this, winning his first special victory in this edition, the ninth of his career in the Dakar, and at the same time taking the top spot in the general classification. The Argentine driver took command of operations after 156 km and at the finish line he got the better of Alexandre Giroud by just 32 seconds, in a special stage which therefore proved to be particularly close.

Even in the general championship, the two of them dictate the pace, with the Frenchman, winner of the last two editions, chasing with a delay of 21'24″. It should be remembered, however, that most of this was accumulated by incurring a penalty of 15 minutes. On the virtual podium there is always Marcelo Medeiros, who however today lost the chance to take second place by clocking 10'36″. The Brazilian, who has already won two stages this year, is now third at 24'07″. Varga then follows at 45'14″, with all the others further behind.

Dakar 2024 | General Moto ranking after Stage 4