Dakar 2024 Recap: American Ricky Brabec Grabs Historic Second Win
Daily stage updates and video recaps of the Dakar Rally 2024.
JANUARY 10, 2024: STAGE 5
Today’s stage took in 118 km of sand dunes through Saudi Arabia’s Empty Quarter as riders made their first tracks into the jaw-dropping landscapes towards Shubaytah. Setting off early from the Al-Hofuf bivouac, riders were also faced with an arduous, energy zapping 527 km road section which would require some serious concentration on the bike, before they were then thrown into the deep dunes on a hot day in the Eastern Province.
Keeping in mind that the Rally GP starting order is flipped for the “48H Chrono” beginning tomorrow, riders knew the biggest advantage will go to the latest starter among the 17 entrants still in contention in this class. Adrien Van Beveren‘s game plan seemed spot on, with an interesting fifth place at km 0 and a knack for surfing the dunes that gave him a realistic shot at the stage win. But in the end, he was pipped at the post by just 37 seconds by his Honda teammate, Pablo Quintanilla. The Chilean notched up his eighth Dakar stage win and bagged the prime slot for stage 6A. Sixth overall, Quintanilla will have the deck stacked in his favor, but he still needs to play his cards right to bump Ross Branch from the hot seat and emerge as the leader of the Honda squad, which has another three riders in hot pursuit of the Botswanan: Cornejo (second at 1′14″), Brabec (third at 3′47″) and Van Beveren (fourth at 18′10″).
Pablo Quintanilla: “After two awful days everything fell into place. I went flat out but it wasn’t easy because the glare of the sun made it hard to see the tracks. It was tough but I managed to set a fast pace and had a great stage. I wasn’t expecting this type of soft sand because I heard it had rained in the last few days, but I had fun anyway on my bike. I’m happy to be in this position ahead of the 48 Hour Chrono, it’ll help me and perhaps unlock some opportunities.”
The honor of third fastest in the stage went to KTM’s Toby Price who completed the special in just over 94 minutes, and will enjoy an advantageous start position going into Thursday’s stage 6a. Behind Price’s dust, GasGas’ Daniel Sanders secured his best result of the event so far, finishing fourth in the stage and re-entering the top-10 overall in eighth place.
Elsewhere, Mason Klein’s perseverance continues to impress, clocking the fifth fastest time in the stage. Mason started the special in 56th place following his previous mechanical troubles (see stage 2 & 3 below) but had an impressive performance crossing the finish line 3′ 01 behind the stage winner Quintanilla. With all the setbacks he has endured during this edition of Dakar others might have thrown in the towel a long time ago, but the 22-year-old is determined to keep going.
The day didn’t go so well for Husqvarna’s Luciano Benavides who posted the ninth-quickest time. Unfortunately, after suffering a technical issue with his FR 450 Rally in the final five kilometers of the timed special, the Argentinian received a 15-minute penalty for a required engine change, which dropped him down the overall standings.
An Original By Motul In The Bike Top 10
Tobias Ebster, leading the Original by Motul class in his Dakar debut, took a quantum leap today cracking the top 10 overall! Ninth in the stage, the 26-year-old pizza delivery guy seems right at home tearing through the dunes. It was, after all, in the nearby sands of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge that he put his name on the map in early 2023, when he grabbed the Rally 2 trophy and earned his ticket for this January by winning the Road to Dakar challenge. The Austrian has got two days left to flaunt his sand-shredding talent before heading to Yanbu and then defending his title back in Abu Dhabi. The W2RC is on the radar for Ebster, who is eager to make a splash as soon as he can.
‘48-Hour Chrono’ Begins Tomorrow
Next up is the mammoth 48-Hour Chrono which will be the biggest test of this year’s event with David Castera, the Dakar Rally organizer, already admitting he won’t be gaining many fans after it. Hidden waypoints will prove to be a navigation nightmare if the fatigued competitors lose their focus.
With a reverse starting order in place from today’s results, Quintanilla will be the one to benefit as he will set off last out of all the RallyGP riders. With a total of 835 km to ride, the special will contribute a hefty 626 km as the Empty Quarter dunes will look to take no prisoners at the halfway point of the rally.
Just to throw an extra spanner into the works they’ll have no access to the outside world, so they’ll be unaware where they are on the stage in relation to their rivals. Action restarts on Friday morning at 7am where they’ll complete the stage back to Shubaytah and a much needed rest day in Riyadh further north.
Stage 5 Top 10 Motorcycle Ranking
Stage 5 Top 10 Overall Motorcycle Ranking
JANUARY 9, 2024: STAGE 4
Although a little shorter than the two previous days, the timed special on stage four saw competitors race for around three hours against the clock. The route from Al Salamiya to Al Hofuf was less demanding in terms of the terrain covered, but with high speeds and some tough navigation, focus was required throughout.
Top speeds of approximately 150 km/h were often reached and Honda’s Nacho Cornejo was able to show his hallmark of ultra-rapid reading and skillful interpretation of the roadbook after clocking the fastest time of the stage. On reaching the finish line, he also dethroned Hero’s Ross Branch from the general rankings, taking advantage of Branch’s two minor crashes. The Botswanan rider still rode strong to finish the stage just outside the podium in fourth, moving one step down to the overall 2nd place.
Ross Branch: “Yeah, I thought I’d try bent style handlebars today! No, really it was a rough day for me, one of the days I’d rather forget. I crashed after 40 km just trying to look at the roadbook and I hit a rock. Then I crashed again 20 km before the finish just going into the dunes. It was a bit of camel grass hidden in the sand and that threw me over the handlebars. But I’m ok and the bike is repairable.”
Finishing second in the stage, Ricky Brabec made it a one-two on the podium for the Honda Team as he accumulated a minute in bonuses on the shorter 299 km special stage. Meanwhile Kevin Benavides, who celebrates his 35th birthday today and opened the special, completed the stage as third-fastest moving up to fourth in the overall standings.
Fifth place Adrien Van Beveren has now got himself dialed in with his Honda CRF450 RALLY and with dunes coming up tomorrow in the hostile Empty Quarter, the three-time Le Touquet beach race king will be on the hunt for his first stage victory this year on his favorite terrain, aiming to rise up the overall standings from his current fifth position.
Elsewhere, American Mason Klein is not throwing in the towel in spite of suffering major technical problems during the last two days (see stage 2 & 3 below). The 22-year-old finished today’s stage in 99th place and currently trails overall leader Cornejo by a little over eleven hours. His sponsor Kove still has 3 factory riders in the leaderboard, with Frenchman Neels Theric currently clinging to the highest overall ranking among his teammates in 29th place, after clocking the 35th fastest time in the stage.
As the 48-Hour Chrono gets ever closer, riders will have to muster up all their energy for stage five tomorrow. Although it’s only 118 km against the clock in the dunes, a very early start will see them covering a 527 km road section as they head towards the Red Sea and the city of Shubaytah.
Stage 4 Top 10 Motorcycle Ranking
Stage 4 Top 10 Overall Motorcycle Ranking
JANUARY 8, 2024: STAGE 3
With a long timed special of 438 kilometers, stage three of the Dakar proved to be another huge test of skill and endurance for all competitors. Marking the first half of the event’s opening marathon stage, just two hours of assistance were permitted before competitors left their teams and completed a final liaison to a separate bivouac to spend the night.
The physical demands of this stage spared the sturdiest but also the calmest of the bikers, including KTM’s Kevin Benavides who let his experience do the talking to top the timesheets today. Starting stage three from 19th, due to losing several minutes from a small mistake on the previous day’s special, Benavides knew he had to deliver his best over the course of day three to make up time on his rivals. Using his experience and speed, the reigning Dakar Rally Champion put in a solid ride over the mixed terrain, securing his first stage win of the 2024 Dakar so far. Kevin’s result elevates him to sixth in the provisional overall standings.
Kevin Benavides: “It was a long, long stage, but after making a couple of mistakes yesterday, I set off with the plan to focus more on my navigation. It definitely paid off – there were already a lot of tracks on the ground ahead of me, but I concentrated on my roadbook and was able to find a good, solid rhythm over the different types of terrain. I’m happy with my pace today and the result. We have a couple of hours now to work on the bikes and then we head off to the bivouac.”
Meanwhile, second place finisher Ricky Brabec, ended the day just over a minute behind stage winner Kevin Benavides. He kept his third place in the overall standings and is only about five minutes behind Hero’s Ross Branch who is still leading the overall standings after finishing fifth in the stage. Together with Jose Ignacio Cornejo who finished sixth today, Honda currently holds a 2-3 podium position overall.
Ricky Brabec: “Today was difficult. This morning was way too tricky. I definitely wasn’t ready this morning for what they threw at us. After the first forty kilometers, I started to catch the rhythm and I’m really happy for this.”
Continuing to paint today’s top leaderboard red, Adrien Van Beveren was disappointed with his result yesterday after a couple of navigational issues, but today saw him up amongst the front runners as he mastered the conditions to snatch third place. Skyler Howes also spent most of the day in the fight and despite stopping to assist Hero Motosports Team Rally’s Sebastian Bühler after his crash, time spent at Bühler’s side was given back to the American. A hugely positive fourth place was his result just six seconds behind Van Beveren.
Elsewhere, Pablo Quintanilla remained at the forefront during the stage in what seemed like a win for the Chilean. However, the victory that seemed promised to Quintanilla slipped from his grasp following the race stewards’ announcement of a series of speeding penalties. Due to going much too fast through a zone restricted to 30 kmph, Pablo received a 6-minute penalty moving him down to seventh in today’s stage. However, he still holds on to fourth place in the overall standings.
Meanwhile, privateer Mason Klein doesn’t seem to get a break. After experiencing mechanical problems yesterday with his Kove bike, the American lost two hours trying to repair his mount before crossing the finish line. Equipped with a new engine (see stage 2 below), things looked brighter today as the 22-year-old zipped his way to the forefront of the stage. However, things came to a halt for Mason due to technical problems once again. Reportedly, a rock hit the chain case cover which may have taken out the shift shaft. Mason lost significant time trying to fix his bike but was still able to get it to the finish line and is ready for tomorrow’s stage.
For other leading riders it was the end of the race though. In the order of disappearance from the rankings, Sam Sunderland went first, betrayed by his machine’s mechanical problems after 11 kilometers of the special. Also out of the race, Hero’s Sebastian Bühler had a hard fall and was airlifted to the hospital where it was reportedly found he has two broken vertebrae. With the retirement of Joachim Rodrigues the day before yesterday, the Indian team is now down to just Branch and Barreda.
A Crushing Blow
In 2022, Sam Sunderland experienced a dream year punctuated by a series of successes which could have inspired a documentary entitled “The Crown.”. He opened the inaugural season of the W2RC by winning his second Dakar, following his first in 2017, then swiftly achieved his 3rd triumph on the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, before completing the year at the Andalucia Rally with coronation as the FIM world champion, also offering GasGas the icing on the cake of the constructors’ title for its first year in the discipline. However, since then, the “king” of 2022 has endured a genuine string of misfortunes: “SunderSam” has rhymed with DNF (did not finish); firstly, the Dakar 2023 on stage 1, the Sonora Rally, the Desafio Ruta 40, the Rallye du Maroc and now the Dakar 2024. Out of these five consecutive rallies, Sam has only completed 10 stages, including the prologues, all episodes for which his majesty would have preferred to have missed the broadcast.
Stage 3 Top 10 Motorcycle Ranking
Stage 3 Top 10 Overall Motorcycle Ranking
JANUARY 7, 2024: STAGE 2
Stage 2 offered riders the first dune fields of this edition, testing the limits of their navigational skills to get out of one maze after another. In direct contrast to the technical, rocky terrain of the first stage, today required both focus and endurance from all competitors to overcome a 462 km long and fast course.
Not surprisingly, Honda’s Jose Ignacio Cornejo, who favors tricky navigation, would catch the lead group and clock the fastest time of the stage, bagging his seventh career stage win. In turn, Husqvarna’s Luciano Benavides capitalized on his advantageous start position as the 15th rider to set off into stage two and charge hard to secure an impressive runner-up finish. Behind Benavides’ dust, Pablo Quintanilla earned the third fastest time of the day giving Honda a 1-3 podium win in the stage.
And while Hero’s Ross Branch managed to cling on to the overall lead after clocking the eleventh fastest time, the other standout performer of yesterday’s bike special, Mason Klein, was not so lucky. The American ran into mechanical trouble with his Kove bike at km 46, forcing the 22-year-old to screech to a halt and spend two hours repairing his mount. Apparently, an issue with the oil cooler line was the cause of the problem. He remains in the race and could still pull a rabbit or two out of his hat on the road to Yanbu.
Meanwhile, Sebastian Buhler found the day far more rewarding than his Hero teammate and was able to maintain a good rhythm all throughout the stage to snatch fourth place. Behind his dust, Ricky Brabec earned fifth place after having the task of being second off the start line. The American currently holds third place in the overall standings.
Ricky Brabec: “It’s always difficult to open the road especially when the stage is 460 km long, but I’m happy to be here, so let’s keep the good vibes rolling and make it to the finish line.”
For several riders it was the end of the race after today’s stage:
| 15 | (ESP) SANTOLINO LORENZO | SHERCO RALLY FACTORY | WITHDRAWAL |
| 22 | (ZAF) DOCHERTY MICHAEL | BAS WORLD KTM RACING TEAM | WITHDRAWAL |
| 60 | (FRA) FLICK XAVIER | KOVE | WITHDRAWAL |
| 108 | (IND) RAORANE ASHISH | XRAIDS EXPERIENCE | WITHDRAWAL |
| 124 | (ZAF) FITZ-GERALD KERIM | BAS WORLD KTM RACING TEAM | WITHDRAWAL |
| 135 | (ESP) FALCON CARLES | TWINTRAIL RACING TEAM | WITHDRAWAL |
The Dakar Rally continues unabated tomorrow with stage three serving up a 438 km test and a 295 km liaison as riders will encounter a mix of sandy sections, dunes and very rough terrain which might cause a few tiyre issues as they head deep into Saudi Arabia to Al Salamiya. Another twist for the day is that mechanics will get just two hours to work on the bikes in the evening before they are taken to Parc Fermé at the bivouac.
Stage 2 Top 10 Motorcycle Ranking
Stage 2 Top 10 Overall Motorcycle Ranking
JANUARY 6, 2024: STAGE 1
And we’re racing! The opening kilometers of Stage 1 kicked off where the prologue left off yesterday, serving riders a punishing mix of rocks, dry river crossing and sand over a total of 414 kilometers. After exiting AlUla, the field weaved its way around canyons on sand, but the landscape soon changed to more challenging terrain.
Several riders were brought down by the grueling course, including the winner of the prologue, Tosha Schareina who was one of the favorites to take the bike category yet had to bow out of his third Dakar at km 240 with a fractured arm. Following the same fate, seasoned rider Joaquim Rodrigues crashed out of the race at km 82 after falling head over on the ground and losing consciousness. Joan Barreda and Sebastian Buhler, who reached the spot shortly, stopped to take care of their teammate and waited until he was evacuated by helicopter to the AlUla hospital.
In sharp contrast, J-Rod’s teammate Ross Branch romped home with the fastest time in the special and scooped up his fourth career Dakar stage win. The Botswanan airline pilot who moonlights as a rally-raid racer also surged ahead in the overall, where he now holds a 12-minute margin over the 2020 Dakar champion Ricky Brabec. Fellow American Mason Klein, who embraced the task of opening the road with panache and spent the entire stage alone at the front was able to snatch an impressive third place on the KOVE Chinese bike.
Behind Klein’s dust, Bradley Cox earned the 4th fastest time of the day followed by Honda’s Jose Ignacio Cornejo in 5th while his fellow teammate Skyler Howes didn’t see a top result after the disappointment of yesterday’s prologue. The task of setting off near the front with clear track ahead only added to another difficult day, which saw him ultimately finish nearly forty minutes back in twenty-third place.
Setting off 22nd into the stage after his ninth-place result on the prologue, KTM’s Kevin Benavides maintained his position safely inside the top 10 for the full length of the special. Choosing not to push too hard on the first day of competition, Kevin used his experience to deliver a safe but solid ride to eighth place. With another long, 463-kilometer special scheduled for Sunday, the reigning Dakar champion will enjoy an advantageous starting position in the stage.
Taking part in his 10th Dakar Rally, Toby Price knows that the race is never won on the first day. A solid start to the special saw the Aussie post times inside the top 10 through to the 225-kilometer mark. A small technical issue at 70 kilometers before the refueling stop unfortunately cost the 36-year-old around seven minutes to his rivals, dropping Price down the timesheets. With the problem rectified, Toby refocused and was able to claw back some time over the latter half of the special, ultimately completing the day in 16th place.
Performance of the Day
Mason Klein was not even sure that he would be able to start his third Dakar on his brand-new second-generation Kove, which got stuck in customs in Dubai, but his Chinese mount finally arrived a few hours before the gong rang on the technical scrutineering. The American finished in the top 10 in the prologue and for reasons no-one else understood picked his starting order for stage 1 – a position typically avoided by Rally GP riders that would have usually gone to Skyler Howes, the worst performer in the opening romp.
“The idea of opening the first stage at the Dakar is really cool so, in the end, no regrets because now I can say I’ve done it.” Klein again showed that he is a box full of surprises, not just because he spent the 400 km long hard slog alone at the front, picking up 6′21″ in bonuses and third place at the finish, but also because he did it on a motorbike that he had barely even touched before: “This is my third time on the bike now and I couldn’t be happier.”
Stage 1 Top 10 Motorcycle Rankings
Stage 1 Top 10 Overall Motorcycle Rankings
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following to see how the Chinese KOVE bikes perform when the duel is over
We just did an update on the Kove bikes in the review of the Stage 12 final. Hope you saw it.
best place to follow live timing: https://dakartiming.eu/