Husky Flys At Dakar

On an extremely successful day in the Saudi desert for Husqvarna Factory Racing, Luciano Benavides posted the fastest time on Friday’s 358-kilometre timed special to earn his first ever Dakar Rally stage win. Finishing as runner-up to his teammate, Skyler Howes increased his lead in the provisional overall standings to three and a half minutes after his strong ride through today’s dunes.

After showing great pace so far at this year’s event, Luciano Benavides’ determination has paid off with a stage win at the Dakar. Setting off as the 12th rider into the special gave the Argentinian the perfect opportunity to make up time on his rivals ahead, and that’s exactly what he did.

Fourth-quickest to kilometre 31, Benavides continued to pick off the riders ahead of him on time, steadily moving up the rankings to finally overhaul teammate Howes by the finish line. The result moves Luciano one place higher in the overall standings to ninth and closes the gap to his rivals ahead.

Enjoying the stage and putting in another strong performance, Skyler Howes demonstrated why he currently sits top of the general rankings. The American skilfully navigated his way through the tracks and dunes of the stage to finish just under one minute short of the hard-charging Benavides. Increasing his lead at the top of the standings, Howes knows he can’t rest on his advantage and is ready to push once again tomorrow on the 713-kilometre first half of the event’s marathon stage.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Toby Price has posted the third-fastest time on a shortened stage six of the 2023 Dakar Rally. Teammate Kevin Benavides was hot on Price’s heels, finishing fifth, just 21 seconds behind. Matthias Walkner secured another top-10 stage result as he continues to adjust to riding with an injured wrist, sustained on stage two.

With the proposed bivouac at Al Duwadimi still under water due to the heavy rains affecting the region, organizers rerouted the Dakar caravan to Riyadh. As such, although the timed special was shortened to 358 kilometers, riders still faced an exhausting total distance of 768 kilometers today, due to the long liaisons. Today’s special comprised another day of dunes and sandy tracks, made all the more unpredictable due to the overnight rain.

Following his third-place finish on stage five, Toby Price set about chasing down the two riders ahead of him right from the start of today’s special. With the times among the front runners proving to be especially close this morning as they navigated their way through the damp dunes of the stage, Price found himself losing a few positions as he focused on his navigation near the front. After the refueling however, the Australian pushed on and moved back up the leaderboard to ultimately complete the stage in third place.

The day started differently for Kevin Benavides. Third-quickest through the first 100 kilometers, the 2021 Dakar champion dropped a little time following a small mistake midway through the special. Regrouping, Kevin clawed some of that time back to complete the demanding special in fifth place. Benavides’ consistency is paying off. Finishing no lower than eighth so far at the 2023 event has resulted in the Argentine lying in a solid third overall in the provisional standings.

Thankfully regaining his strength each day following the crash that injured his wrist on stage two, Matthias Walkner continues to put in solid rides to stay in contention. Delivering another top-10 result on today's special, the Austrian star minimized the time lost to the leaders and currently lies just outside the top 10 overall in 11th.

Tomorrow’s stage seven marks the first half of the event’s marathon stage. Following a short two-hour window where the service teams can work on their riders’ machines, the competitors then head to the bivouac at Al Duwadimi while the teams return to Riyadh. Of the total distance covered of 713 kilometers, 398 will be raced against the clock.

With his energy levels slowly restoring following a sickness bug that zapped all of his power ahead of yesterday’s stage five, Daniel Sanders made it known today that he’s not out of the running in the race for victory at the 2023 Dakar Rally. Clocking in as the seventh-fastest rider on today’s stage six, just three minutes behind the stage winner, it was a perfect execution of damage limitation by the Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing star who remains eighth in the provisional standings.