The newest addition to the Dakar Rally – the 48 Hour Chrono – finally got underway on the opening day of Stage Six in the gargantuan Empty Quarter dunes, where 626 km of desert tested both mental and physical stamina on Thursday and continues into Friday
Riders were tasked with making their way across the route as fast they could today, and once the clock got to 1600 riders headed to the nearest bivouac.
Adrien Van Beveren was on favoured terrain and with a second-place finish on stage five he kept Ricky Brabec – who led for much of the day – within his sights. Less than 30-seconds covered them in a battle across the dunes, before the number 42 took the provisional lead after 400 km.
Brabec judged the dunes to perfection to finish second, keeping an eye on that important fuel consumption which unfortunately caught out Pablo Quintanilla.
Ricky Brabec
After a great stage victory yesterday, Quintanilla ran out of fuel 184 km into the special test and just 10 km prior to the first refuelling point, losing him over an hour and a half to the front runners. The rally veteran eventually found some fuel and rejoined the stage to try and regain as much time as he can. Teammate José Ignacio Cornejo finished the day ninth.
Pablo Quintanilla faced disaster after running out of fuel
Taking advantage of his third-place result on Wednesday’s stage five and the reverse start to today’s special, Toby Price pushed hard right from the off, using his skill and experience to navigate through the vast dunes
Increasing his pace as he chased down the 14 riders ahead of him, Toby moved into third place on the timesheets by kilometre 200 – a position he defended to the close of the day’s racing. The Australian will now camp out in the Saudi desert with little in the way of facilities ahead of Friday’s second half of the stage.
Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing’s Daniel Sanders also successfully made it through the first leg, as one of just 12 riders to reach the sixth temporary bivouac on the special, ranked fourth-fastest as it stands. With racing resuming tomorrow, Chucky is well-placed to complete the unique special in a strong position, as he slowly chips away at the overall lead.
Andreas Hölzl – GASGAS Rally Team Manager
“It’s been a great day for Daniel. He delivered a mistake-free ride and reached the sixth temporary bivouac on the stage today with no problems. The stage started a little later than normal, which meant that the temperatures were a little higher than usual, so it’s been a really long and tough stage. Overall, I’m happy with Daniel’s performance. We’re almost halfway through the race now and once tomorrow’s second leg of the stage is complete, we’ll certainly enjoy the rest day.
Luciano Benavides completed the top five for the first half of the new 48-hour chrono stage, while brother Kevin was the seventh rider to enter the special on stage six and despite the earlier start, ended the day in the same position – seventh-fastest.
The overall outright cumulative rankings are still very much provisional but we believe Ricky Brabec has overhauled Ross Branch to now be the outright leader.