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ADV NewsWatch: Dakar Rally 2019 Video Recap and Rankings

Watch: Dakar Rally 2019 Video Recap and Rankings

Daily stage updates and video recaps of the Dakar Rally 2019.

Published on 01.15.2019
The Dakar Rally 2019 has ended.

Top 10 Overall Motorcycle Rankings

Dakar Rally 2019

January 17, 2019: STAGE 10

Total distance covered : 359 km

The 41st edition of the Dakar Rally came to its conclusion with the remaining competitors speeding into the Peruvian capital of Lima. After navigating a 247km liaison, all that was left standing between the finish line and potential victory was a 112km special stage.


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NUMBER 18 FOR KTM!

KTM are still unbeatable on the Dakar, with an 18th consecutive success thanks to a solid performance from Toby Price. What a fine story was told thanks to the monstrous determination and bravery shown by Price. Taking part in his fifth Dakar with a wrist that was still sore after fracturing his scaphoid bone several weeks before the start, the Australian grinned and bore it, focusing on consistency rather than the verve that his rivals showed, as they picked up stage victories. Gritting his teeth day after day to stay in contact with the best, the winner in 2016 finally took the lead in the general standings the day before the finish and offered spectators a genuine recital with a stage victory in Lima.

Toby Price is now a two-time Dakar Rally champion. The race leader capped off a grueling two weeks with victory in the final stage. When closest rival Pablo Quintanilla crashed in the first 10km, Price was all but secured his victory.

Toby Price and Matthias Walkner Dakar 2019
Toby Price and Matthias Walkner. Photo by Dakar Rally

The triumph for Price was the 18th consecutive Dakar title for KTM. 2018 champion Matthias Walkner even ensured it was a one-two. Unfortunately for Quintanilla, it turned out to also be a ‘on-two-three’ for the Austrian manufacturer when he was displaced from third place by Sam Sunderland, after race organizers decided to reverse the penalty he had received a few days ago.

Price, who became the first Aussie to ever win the race in 2016, boasts an impressive record at the Dakar with now four podiums out of five attempts. The Australian has pushed through the pain barrier this race having had surgery on a broken right scaphoid in his wrist in pre-event training.

Toby Price pushes through excruciating pain throughout the race.

Price said: “Some things fell my way and everything worked out perfectly. It feels like I am living a dream at the moment. I will go home, rest this arm, have some MRI scans and see what damage we have done. I did not think I could win, I thought if I could get to stage 3, I would have been happy.”

A CRUSHING BLOW

At the age of 32 years and after seven Dakar rallies, Pablo Quintanilla finally thought it might be his day. Lying second in the general standings this morning, one minute behind Toby Price hindered by his injured wrist, the Chilean decided to go on all out attack to go and grab his life long dream, outright triumph on the Dakar… However, this dream turned into a nightmare on the sandy last special of the rally when the official Husqvarna rider fell just several kilometres after the start. Bravely remounting his steed with a fractured ankle to complete the special and save his place on the podium, in the end Quintanilla lost out on a place in the top 3 due to the return onto the podium by Sam Sunderland thanks to a reversal of the penalty received earlier in the race.

PERFORMANCE OF THE DAY

Anastasiya Nifontova has gone down in history as the first woman to finish the Dakar without assitance. Nifontova raced in the grueling Original by Motul (Malle Moto) class finishing 60th in the overall standings. An amazing feat! She is one of 16 brave competitors to have completed the Dakar in this category.

Stage 10 Top 10 Motorcycle Rankings

Dakar Rally 2019



January 16, 2019: STAGE 9

Total distance covered : 409 km

The favorites let their next-to-last opportunity to finally break the deadlock in the motorbike race go to waste. The top riders started together, stayed together and crossed the finish line together, except for Yamaha’s Adrien Van Beveren, who saw his hopes of a podium place in Lima dashed by an engine failure with 16 kilometres to go. Van Beveren was then disqualified for completing the special on a pick-up truck. The outsiders in the second wave, on the other hand, jumped on the opportunity, with Michael Metge claiming an impressive victory ahead of Daniel Nosiglia.

Pablo Quintanilla Dakar 2019
Photo by DPPI

PERFORMANCE OF THE DAY

Finally, the time has come! Throughout his first six participations in the Dakar, Michael Metge has had first-row tickets to other people’s victories. After scouts saw him in the enduro championships, he was quickly recruited as a water carrier for top riders, including Cyril Despres at Yamaha and Joan Barreda at Honda. On several occasions, the man from Nîmes had got so close to glory that he could almost taste it, only to be denied at the last minute. Now racing in a leadership role for French maker Sherco, Metge capitalised on his advantageous starting position in the second wave this morning to beat the stars of the rally to the line. Welcome to the club.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“I’ll give it my 100% to win the race”

Pablo Quintanilla: “Today was a mass start, so there was no chance to make a difference. I want to congratulate my friend Nacho Cornejo, who did a really good job, for all the hard work with the difficult navigation. […] It was difficult to navigate between valleys and dunes. But I’m happy to finish one more day and one more stage to go. Yeah, the race is really tight with Toby. It’s been a really hard race, but I’m happy at the moment with the result and my performance, but for sure tomorrow I’ll give it my 100% to win the race.”

Stage 9 Top 10 Motorcycle Rankings

Dakar Rally 2019



January 15, 2019: STAGE 8

Total distance covered : 575 km

The Dakar Rally continued to throw up surprises on Stage 8 as many heavyweights on the leaderboard struggled in 40°C heat on the sand dunes of the 360km special stage to Pisco.

Ricky Brabec set off from San Juan de Marcona in the lead as he pushed to become the first American to win the race. However, the Honda rider suffered heartbreak after only 56km as his engine gave way, bringing an end to his hopes.

Ricky Brabec Dakar Rally
Ricky Brabec. Photo by DPPI

The KTM trio of Sam Sunderland, Toby Price and Matthias Walkner as well as Husqvarna rider Pablo Quintanilla took full advantage. Defending champion Walkner has been battling an ankle injury all race but chased down teammate Price, himself suffering from severe wrist pain, in the final moments to clinch a second stage win.

Price was leading for 300km of the special and his speed was enough to take the overall lead as he bids to reclaim the title he first won in 2016. Quintanilla is just one minute behind, with Walkner now third a further five minutes back.

Price said: “That was my maximum today, I couldn’t go any more. The wrist is on fire now. It is difficult with the wrist, you just try to blank it out. I will try to do it all again!”

Toby Price Dakar Rally
Toby Price. Photo by Frederic Le Floch’

Tomorrow is the penultimate stage of the race and only the second mass start of the rally. The route takes a loop around Pisco and entails a 96km liaison and 313km special.

Stage 8 Top 10 Motorcycle Rankings

Dakar Rally 2019



January 14, 2019: STAGE 7

Total distance covered : 387 km

Stage seven saw the remaining competitors take on the first loop stage of the race. The riders and drivers went full throttle on a 323km special stage around San Juan de Marcona.

Sam Sunderland‘s participation in the 2019 Dakar has been a roller coaster, After a disappointing day on Sunday when he lost time due to a damaged brake. But today he reached new heights on the 323 km loop around San Juan de Marcona. The 2017 champion claimed his second stage win and moved up the general classification, while Ricky Brabec capitalized on Pablo Quintanilla‘s sub-par performance to take back the overall lead. Meanwhile, Adrien Van Beveren is still banking on a consistent approach.

The start was delayed 30 minutes due to fog, but when they got underway it was American Ricky Brabec who set the early pace, with Sunderland hanging with him for the first 100km. The British rider then upped his form and dominated the remainder of the day to finish nearly two minutes ahead of José Ignacio Cornejo and six and-a-half minutes ahead of new race leader Brabec. It is tight at the top, with five riders within 10 minutes of each other.

Sam Sunderland Dakar Rally
Sam Sunderland. Photo by Florent Gooden

Sunderland said: “Yesterday I was disappointed because I felt that I rode well and my navigation was good. I started out today with the intention to push a lot. I was going well, but I lost a few minutes at one waypoint. That was frustrating, but I got back on track I feel pretty good.”

Stage 7 Top 10 Motorcycle Rankings

Dakar Rally 2019



January 13, 2019: STAGE 6

Total distance covered : 838 km

The trek from Yauca to the small town of San Juan de Marcona can seem a pleasant ride. Less than 100 km separate these two places going down the Panamericana road on the Pacific coast. However, the field of the Dakar faced an entirely different challenge, starting with a long liaison to the start of the special (267 km for the motorbike). Right after the start, the competitors tackled the fearsome dunes of Tanaka, the toughest dune sector in the rally, which is even nastier than in 2018. Then came the slightly easier dunes of Acari, back after stage 3 but on a different course, and a detour on the beach of Puerto de Lomas to freshen up the competitors before a long off-road section. The final showdown took place on the Duna Grande and Duna Argentina sequence, which were not as difficult as the dunes of Tanaka but came at the end of a gruelling stage. A laser-like focus was crucial to make it to the finish!

PABLO QUINTANILLA WINS THE 6TH STAGE

Pablo Quintanilla could not have dreamed of a better start to the second half of the rally. The Chilean overcame a problem with the road book to take stage 6 ahead of Kevin Benavides after a nail-biting duel, with less than 5 minutes separating the two South American riders.

Pablo Quintanilla Dakar Rally
Pablo Quintanilla. Photo by Eric Vargiolu

“It was a hard stage. I attacked from the beginning, caught Kevin and overtook him. At km 290, I had a problem with the road book and was unable to read it, so I had to follow Kevin. We were near the finish when I got a fuel running. In the end, it was a blessing in disguise to have to ride behind because, if I’d kept on attacking at the same pace, I would’ve run out of petrol. In the end, it was a tough and stressful day, but it’s a fantastic finish.”

Recharged during the rest day in Arequipa, the Husqvarna rider attacked from the get-go and claimed his first stage win since the start in Lima. It was also good enough for him to seize the overall lead from Ricky Brabec, who finished 7 minutes down. Matthias Walkner, Toby Price and Adrien Van Beveren all remain within striking distance.

TOBY PRICE: IT’S GETTING WORSE

The intense pain in his right wrist has in no way dampened Toby Price’s fighting spirit. The Australian finished fourth in stage 6 and defended his third place overall, five minutes behind the leader.

“I’m still in a lot of pain. It’s getting worse. It’s going to be hard, but we’re just trying to keep pace. We’ve still got four days to go. We’ll see what happens.”

Toby Price Dakar Rally
Toby Price. Photo by ASO @dakar

Stage 6 Top 10 Motorcycle Rankings

Dakar Rally 2019



January 12, 2019: REST DAY

The rest day will be organized in Arequipa. Before the return to action (stage 6), the bikes will leave on liaison this rest day bivouac during the evening to head to the bivouac near the start of the special stage.



January 11, 2019: STAGE 5

Total distance covered : 774 km

The riders of the Dakar will have fully deserved their rest day, on completion of the 5th stage, which was made up of the longest and most varied timed sections on the rally. The start took place for everyone in Tacna, which is the furthest point from Lima that the riders and drivers have reached this year. They started the journey back to the Peruvian capital by crossing a long zone of fesh-fesh before tackling the first tracks of the day, winding through sumptuous canyons, much to the delight of photographers and skid enthusiasts. The long first portion came to a close in the dunes of Ilo, where the bikes experienced a double dose of sand.

SUNDERLAND WINS THE 5TH STAGE

Now that he has recovered the time lost assisting Paulo Gonçalves after an unfortunate crash, Sam Sunderland has been declared winner of the 5th stage in Arequipa. This is the first victory of the year for the Dakar 2017 champ. The Englishman has beaten Xavier de Soultrait by 3’23 and climbs to second place in the general standings, only 59 seconds behind Ricky Brabec. In addition, fellow KTM teammate and defending champion Matthias Walkner persevered through a suspected ankle injury to nab tenth in stage 5, trailing only 6.2 minutes off the pace.

Sam Sunderland Dakar Rally
Sam Sunderland. Photo by Flavien Duhamel

Sam Sunderland: “It was a mass start day and there was not much to win or lose, but unfortunately for Gonçalves and I stopped with him. After that, I stopped for a long time with him, maybe ten minutes, I’m not sure… Then I was back with all the other guys in the dust so I had to try to… I didn’t have any reference of how much time I was losing, so I was thinking that my race was going downhill. I pushed a lot and finally it was ok. It’s day five – we have a long way to go. It’s been really tough, really difficult. If the first five days are anything to go by then, sure, there will be a lot more chaos to come”.

A CRUSHING BLOW

Paulo Gonçalves Dakar Rally
Paulo Gonçalves. Photo by ASO/Charly Lopez

It is still not the year for Paulo Gonçalves, who started the Dakar enthusiastically, after having doubted he would take part following an operation on his spleen several weeks before the rally. The Portuguese rider was sixth in the general standings this morning, but once again crashed severely after 155 km. With a head injury and a suspected broken right hand, he was forced to drop out of the race for the 5th time out of 12 participations in his career on the Dakar. After the premature exit of Joan Barreda, this mishap is not good news for Honda, even if they are leading the race at the half way point thanks to Ricky Brabec.

RICKY BRABEC SEEKS TO MAKE HISTORY

The American rider, Ricky Brabec, has reached the rest day leading the Dakar and at the same time has become the main man in the Honda team in their quest to dethrone KTM.

“I don’t know if it’s a dream or if it’s reality. It’s pretty wild. I would like to have a big margin on the overall, but it’s only one minute right now. So, I’ve just got to manage that for the next few days and just make it to the motocross start on the ninth day. The Dakar is never easy but I never thought that I actually could be in the overall physical lead. I have high expectations and I’ve put a lot of work, a lot of time and a lot of money into training in the last couple of months for this race. It’s clearly paying off and I’m happy with the bike. My comfort on the bike and in myself is really good right now. I’m really happy with my result today so that way the day after the rest day I’ll be in a good position to push. I’m hoping and crossing my fingers that I can win the stage after the rest day and make up some time, just trying to make it to the motocross start with a good lead. It would be making history on two counts: 1 – being the only American to win the Dakar and; 2) breaking KTM’s win streak for so many years. There’s a lot of weight on my shoulders there, but I’m not going to let it get to me – I just want to go and have fun, enjoy the moment and hopefully we can make it happen over the next five days”.

Stage 5 Top 10 Motorcycle Rankings

Dakar Rally 2019



January 10, 2019: STAGE 4

Total distance covered : 511 km

The ingredients for the first part of the marathon stage set the tone of the challenge. On leaving the White City, a small zone of dunes distracted the riders and drivers who quickly understood that the day would be a difficult one: fesh-fesh wears down nerves and machinery and there was plenty of it throughout the stage. In some places, especially alongside the Rio Tambo towards the end of the first 200 kilometres, the tracks became rather rocky. However, once they had come off the high plateau of the Pampa de la Clemesí, they again had to deal with this fine, untameable dust. The final straight between the port of Ilo and Moquegua gave some sort of comfort for competitors who like to have fun with the trajectories that they take… but only on the condition that they were able to slalom between the stones!

Ricky Brabec Dakar Rally
Ricky Brabec. Photo by @racingteamhrc

After getting lost on Wednesday, Ricky Brabec more than made up for it in Tacna. The American was victorious on completion of the first marathon stage and also moved into the lead in the general standings. Beaten right at the finish yesterday, Brabec reacted like a champion on the route to Moquegua, handing out a veritable lesson to his rivals. At a faster pace than all the rest all along the 351 km of the special, the American produced a master stroke to bring the second stage victory of his career on the Dakar and take the lead in the general standings. The trio of official KTMs limited the damage with Walkner, Price and Sunderland finishing in that order behind the winner, while Pablo Quintanilla and Xavier de Soultrait crawled to the finish more than 20 minutes later.

Title holder, Matthias Walkner Injured

Matthias Walkner Dakar Rally
Matthias Walkner. Photo by @ASO

Defending champion Matthias Walkner, was unrelenting in the final push for the finish in Tacna, but a heavy landing after a jump resulted in a suspected ankle injury in the last 50kms of the marathon stage, shrouding tomorrow’s stage with doubt for the Austrian.

Walkner revealed: “My ankle feels quite hurt. Fifty kilometres before the end I did a big jump and landed heavily. First I was thinking, ok, maybe it’s broken. It’s really painful now, but we will see how it is tomorrow and I’m going to put some ice on it. It was ok in the end [for the marathon stage], because I didn’t crash and the bike is running well, plus we are like a big group and a team and we help each other, so everything is good”.

Stage 4 Top 10 Motorcycle Rankings

Dakar Rally 2019



January 9, 2019: STAGE 3

Total distance covered : 798 km

Arequipa, the second most populous city in Peru, lies at the foot of the Misti volcano and, although today’s special took place somewhere else, the Dakar saw an eruption turn the various classifications on their heads. Today, the competitors raced far to the north, in the Duna Grande and Duna Argentina areas near San Juan de Marcona, before moving higher (2,000 masl) in the Cobrepampa region, where fiendish navigation put paid to the hopes of Joan Barreda. Later on, sections of fesh-fesh put handling skills to the test in the third part of the stage, which alternated between fast stretches and the Acarí dunes.

Xavier Soultrait Dakar Rally
Xavier de Soultrait. Photo by Antonin Vincent.

Xavier de Soultrait beat the odds after two difficult days and turned the tribulations of his adversaries to his advantage in a masterful performance during today’s diabolical stage. The Yamaha rider defeated Pablo Quintanilla by a whisker to claim his first Dakar stage win with the Chilean taking the overall lead by a comfortable margin.

Foggy conditions continued to plague the final leg of stage three as Sam Sunderland, The 2017 champion, battled fog and navigation challenges in the third stage nabbing third place in the overall standings. KTM’s reigning champion Matthias Walkner also got lost in the reduced visibility, dropping to eighth place overall, 21 minutes behind the lead.

A CRUSHING BLOW

Joan Barreda has an impressive assortment of Dakar stage wins, but the only thing he added to his collection today, two days after clinching his 23rd special, was another calamity. He had already suffered injuries, mechanical problems and critical navigational mistakes before, but this time he encountered an entirely different setback at km 143. The Spaniard plunged down a steep descent, only to become stuck at the bottom of a basin without being able to get his Honda out. After searching in vain for a way out, the hitherto overall leader gave up and called for a helicopter to evacuate him. It is the fourth time in nine Dakar starts that he has failed to finish the rally.

STAT OF THE DAY

75. The number of Stéphane Peterhansel stage wins in the Dakar. Boasting 33 victories on a motorbike and 42 in a car after his demonstration on the road to Arequipa, the Frenchman is more than ever part of the history of the race as the one and only “Monsieur Dakar”.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“A lot of chaos”

Sam Sunderland: “Definitely, it was difficult with the fog. For me, the road book was more or less good, but the problem was on the plateau, with the fog, you couldn’t see. This was the issue so… You really couldn’t see two/three metres in front of you. Finally, I stopped and took my goggles off and I was able to see a bit better. Yeah, a lot of chaos, after that everyone was in a group and everyone was going in front. But yeah, I’m sure we have many more days to come. This is the Dakar, it’s what it’s all about, tough times and up and downs, some carnage in the stage. Really, I just try to take each day as it comes […] and try to avoid mistakes.”

Stage 3 Top 10 Motorcycle Rankings

Dakar Rally 2019



January 8, 2019: STAGE 2

Total distance covered: 552 km

The second longest stage of the Dakar Rally varied in aspect, with an alternation of dunes, sandy tracks and stretches of beach. Once they had made it past the difficulties of Ica’s dunes, the riders and drivers headed to the Pacific Ocean and followed the coast for one hundred kilometres, over small dunes and sandy beaches.

Dakar Rally 2019

Reigning bike champion Matthias Walkner (Red Bull KTM Factory Team) fought back brilliantly to win the second stage from Ricky Brabec (Monster Energy Honda Team 2019). The American was the fastest rider to the first 50km mark with Walkner cutting the gap to just one second after 100km. Brabec pulled clear again, only for the Austrian to roar back to win by 22 seconds with third-placed Joan Barreda (Monster Energy Honda Team 2019) retaining his overall lead by 1:31.

Walkner, 32, said: “The cars were difficult to pass in places, but the most difficult was the fesh-fesh (fine sand) getting really loose. Sometimes with the bikes it was so deep that you can’t miss some stones, so it was quite dangerous but fun.”

Stage 2 Top 10 Motorcycle Rankings

Dakar Rally 2019



January 7, 2019: Stage 1

Total distance covered : 330 km

The 2019 Dakar Rally is underway. This Monday, 130 cars, 137 bikes, 26 quads and 41 trucks left Lima, Peru to complete the first stage. After a 247-kilometre liaison, the competitors faced an 84km special before a finish in Pisco.

Dakar Rally 2019

In the bike category, Joan Barreda (Honda Team) won ahead of Pablo Quintanilla (Husqvarna Factory Racing), second, and teammate Ricky Brabec, third. Sam Sunderland from Red Bull KTM Factory Team took fifth, ahead of the other KTM riders Toby Price (sixth) and Matthias Walkner (seventh). Joan Barreda set the stopwatches buzzing on the opening stage of the Dakar Rally by putting a significant distance for such a short stage (84 km) between himself and his closest pursuer Pablo Quintanilla: 1’34’’. It brought him the 23rd victory in his career on the rally, teammate Ricky Brabec, third. Sam Sunderland from Red Bull KTM Factory Team took fifth, ahead of the other KTM riders Toby Price (sixth) and Matthias Walkner (seventh).

Walkner, who won the 2018 edition, said: “The pace is quite high because we have a lot of lines [in the dunes]. It was quite an easy navigation, it was really fast. It’s good to be racing.”

Stage 1 Top 10 Motorcycle Rankings

Dakar Rally 2019

Author: ADV Pulse Staff
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