Luciano Benavides (KTM) decides the second part of the marathon stage – Daniel Sanders (KTM) goes into the rest day as the leader in the overall standings despite a penalty.
KTM factory rider Luciano Benavides has won the fifth stage of the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia after Adrien van Beveren (Honda) received two minutes of penalty time. Daniel Sanders remains the leader of the rally. Because the KTM driver received an eight-minute time penalty, his lead over Tosha Schareina (Honda) was reduced to seven minutes.
On Thursday, the second part of the marathon stage took place. It went in an easterly direction from Al-‘Ula to Ha’il. The route was 588 kilometers, with the special stage covering 428 kilometers. The terrain was initially very rocky and then sandy.
Sanders had to open the route today. This disadvantage was apparent from the start, because after 31 kilometers he had already lost a minute to his pursuers. Yesterday, Skyler Howes (Honda), Ricky Brabec (Honda) and Ross Branch (Hero) had lost time due to navigation errors.
Today they started after the top 15 and took advantage of this, especially in the early stages. This also applied to Luciano Benavides, who had started in 14th position. The Argentinean led the intermediate standings after 87 kilometers.
On the other hand, Schareina’s tactics did not completely pay off. Yesterday he slowed down shortly before the finish and renounced the stage victory in order to avoid having to open the road today. Although he followed Sanders on the course, Schareina lost some time to the Australian.
It remained a close race. After 137 kilometers, “Nacho” Cornejo (Hero) reported the best interim time. Brabec took the virtual lead until kilometer 173. But Sanders was also riding strongly at the front of the field, as at this point he was only four minutes behind.
The open race for the stage victory continued. At the halfway point, world champion Branch was in the lead in the intermediate standings. After 303 kilometers, it was finally van Beveren, who had started fourth and had no major problems.
Even after 359 kilometers, van Beveren was still ahead of Branch and Luciano Benavides. After almost five hours of driving, it initially looked as if van Beveren had secured the stage victory. But the Frenchman received two penalty minutes.
As a result, Luciano Benavides won the stage ahead of van Beveren. Hero rider Cornejo came in third. Branch, Brabec and Sanders followed in the first stage result in fourth to sixth place. They only lost a mere five minutes today. Schareina also kept his deficit within limits.
Time penalty reduces the lead of Daniel Sanders
But Sanders also received a time penalty, namely 8:10 minutes. The reason for this was speeding in a zone with a speed limit. As a result, the Australian dropped from sixth place and was no longer in the top 10 in the day’s result.
This penalty also had an impact on the overall standings. Sanders’ lead shrank to just under seven minutes. The other contenders also closed the gap to the leader again.
There was once again criticism of the electronic roadbook. “I had a problem again on the last 40 kilometers,” reported Sanders. “That’s disappointing. I was lucky that I was driving with other drivers. Otherwise I would have been lost.“
”It was a pretty good day. I made a few mistakes and after the refueling stop the other drivers caught up with me. I feel good, the bike is running well and I’m happy that I made it to the rest day.”
“I now have some experience and know what I have to do. The navigation is going well so far. I also have the right equipment,” says Sanders, praising the KTM motorcycle. He is competing in his fifth Dakar Rally.
In the Rally2 classification, Edgar Canet (KTM) took the stage victory ahead of Michael Docherty (KTM). Tobias Ebster (KTM) lost 13 minutes today. Canet now leads the Rally2 overall standings by just under 17 minutes from Ebster.
On Friday, the only rest day of the rally will take place in Ha’Il. In the second week, seven long stages await.
Result of the 5th stage (Top 10):
01. Luciano Benavides (KTM) – 4:53:00 hours
02. Adrien van Beveren (Honda) +0:47 minutes
03. Jose Ignacio Cornejo (Hero) +1:31
04. Ross Branch (Hero) +3:20
05. Ricky Brabec (Honda) +3:30
06. Skyler Howes (Honda) +4:40
07. Tosha Schareina (Honda) +5:18
08. Edgar Canet (KTM) +7:17
09. Stefan Svitko (KTM) +9:57
10. Michael Docherty (KTM) +10:20
General classification after 5 of 12 stages (top 10):
01. Daniel Sanders (KTM) – 30:20:25 hours
02. Tosha Schareina (Honda) +6:52 minutes
03. Ross Branch (Hero) +17:38
04. Adrien van Beveren (Honda) +18:21
05. Skyler Howes (Honda) +19:49
06. Ricky Brabec (Honda) +20:51
07. Luciano Benavides (KTM) +24:05
08. Pablo Quintanilla (Honda) +32:39
09. Jose Ignacio Cornejo (Hero) +43:40
10. Edgar Canet (KTM) +1:01:34 hours
