New Works Connection KX Skid Plate

2024 KX450 SKID PLATE

 

 Retail $ 94.95

Part # 10-299

Features:

• ·         Made from Aircraft grade 6061-T6
• ·        
• ·         Oil Drain access hole pre cut into the plate to allow for easy oil changes
• ·         Covers the frame rails, but does not stick out beyond the rails
• ·         CNC’d aluminum 1-piece front bracket with quality hardware for secure mounting
• ·         Made in the USA

Don't hit the trail without protection check www.worksconnection.com

2024 Dakar Stage 8: Kevin Benavides Takes Stage Victory As Ricky Brabec Eeks Out Slender Overall Lead

Kevin Benavides has won stage eight of the 2024 Dakar Rally ahead of his brother Luciano Benavides and Adrien Van Beveren while Ricky Brabec extended his advantage in the overall standings.

Thankfully for the riders, stage eight at Dakar lessened the intensity a little with the 458-kilometer timed special split into two – a 179-kilometer liaison joining the two very different halves. The first leg consisted mainly of sandy tracks and dunes, but the second half posed more of a challenge with stones and rocks covering much of the final 119 kilometers leading to the finish in Ha’il.

Times were tight on the stage, with the top six riders separated by less than two and a half minutes. defending Champion Kevin Benavides came out on top, however, skillfully navigating his way through the special to complete the day’s racing 31 seconds ahead of his brother, Luciano. Retaining his fifth place ranking in the provisional overall standings, Kevin continues to close in on the rally leaders, stage by stage.

“It has been a really good day today – I really enjoyed the ride,” Benavides said. “The stage was split into two with the first part more sandy tracks and dunes, but with a lot of navigation. And the second part was more stone and mountains. The two guys opening the stage – my brother and Nacho (Cornejo) – did a really good job, but I was able to catch them both by the end. I’m so proud to win the stage and have a 1-2 with my brother. It means I’ll be opening tomorrow, so hopefully I will do a good job. I’ll give it my all as always.”

Starting just behind his main rival on stage eight, Rally leader Ricky Brabec pulled out the stops to lead most of the day increasing the gap at one point to over three minutes over second placed Ross Branch, but after 400 km of the special he had dropped behind his teammate Adrien Van Beveren that lost him time in the final 50 kms to end the day in seventh. Having caught Branch early on he rode with him for the majority of the day not letting the Botswanan out of his sights as he opened up his overall standings lead to 42 seconds.

” didn’t want to start too far away from Ross tomorrow so I had to play a little bit of cat and mouse with him,” Brabec explained. “I caught him early on so stuck with him all day, then at the refuelling point I saw some times and I was winning. I let Ross take over and open the way to the finish line as we had to play smart today and I didn’t want him starting behind me tomorrow. It was still a good day to finish seventh and I’ll continue to have fun out there.”

With riders spending the night next to Ha’il airport, they will take off for stage nine towards AlUla which makes a return to the route on this year’s Dakar. The fascinating ancient city will welcome the riders after a total 639 km distance, 417 km of which will test them to their limits with complicated navigation and rocky expanses keeping them on their toes.

“This would not happen in Europe.” Jorge Prado

Jorge Prado has performed respectably in his Monster Energy Supercross adventure. The adverse weather conditions provided him with quite the opportunity in San Francisco's Bay Area and he grabbed that with both hands – his heat race win will be remembered for months.

Quick thoughts: San Francisco supercross mudbath – the great reset!

After Anaheim one it looked like the story was set. Jett Lawrence was the man to beat and Chase Sexton and Eli Tomac weren’t on the pace they needed to be to challenge, and by the time they got there it looked like Jett could have a comfortable points lead unless Cooper Webb on Jason Anderson kept their good form and roughed him up or Ken Roczen got around a first turn free or incident. Either way, Jett looked in control no matter what was thrown at him.

Then the mud changed the plans and the momentum. Jorge Prado even won his first ever heat race in a close battle over Chase Sexton as both surprisingly walked away from Jett Lawrence who crashed twice, then crashed again in the main for a ninth place, again behind Prado but more importantly, three of his biggest title rivals all made the podium.

We may have found Jett Lawrence’ only (temporary?) weakness – mud. While at the same time, Eli Tomac had a great rebound in second, Ken Roczen came through the field again, this time to third and an increasingly confident Chase Sexton dominated in the mud with the best start of his life – how did he do that?!

Sexton even said he actually wished it was dry such is the progress with his new KTM over the last two weeks. Chase saying in the press conference he got the back end sorted before A1 and felt that last week they got the forks sorted. The win and the red plate will only add to his confidence. He know believes he can match Jett on pace and is better than he was last year on the Honda – and he is talking about dry supercross tracks. He looks confident again and believes he’s back to the level he knows he can and should be at.

So, round three might be the new round one. Webb and Anderson know they are fast in the dry, Jett is already saying he wants to win this weekend to right the wrongs of San Francisco, but for the first time since he has been on a 450 he has somewhat lost momentum – or has he? This is a new situation for Jett Lawrence. Let’s see how he responds.

The mud has let Chase Sexton get back to the front of the series, he admitted to gatedrop he didn’t expect to be at this level so fast in the series, he’s there and he’s ready to battle Jett, and so is Eli Tomac who erased most of the gap Jett got on him at A1. He admitted he just rode poorly and then made a bike change last week, so in the dry and back in the points mix, Tomac will be looking to get back to his best. And we have Ken Roczen back on the box and proven fast whether it’s wet or dry this year. If he can finally get around the first lap without a crash or a stall as happened the last two weekend’s, watch out.

Everything has been reset. All the main players will believe they are ready to win now. Jett feels he has to reestablish himself as the man while Chase Sexton wants to prove he still is and the rest want in on the party. The battle is on.

Anaheim one in 2005 ruined the entire season. It gave Ricky Carmichael a solid championship lead instantly over Chad Reed who DNF’d and struggling Stewart in the mud. Both never recovered, with a desperate Stewart breaking his arm in practice the next weekend pushing too hard to impress in the dry after an extra week’s wait for the most anticipated race ever. Chad Reed won races but could never get the points back to level. RC could control, the rest were instantly on the back foot. The mud ruined 2005 but it has made 2024 – at least for round three.

San Diego is the place to be on Saturday night!

Words: Jonathan McCready

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Honda Leads Dakar

The second week of the Dakar 2024 was kicked off with José Ignacio Cornejo cementing his status as one of the favourites for the top step in Yanbu as he put in a flawless ride. The Monster Energy Honda Team riders were refreshed after a rest day in Riyadh and if they were expecting an easier return on stage seven then the organisers had other plans. The 483 km special was going to feature some perplexing navigation on small winding gravel tracks around eye-catching canyons, off-piste wadis, a couple of dune sections and adding to this was a total 390 km of liaison as they headed to Al Duwadimi.

Cornejo went into this final week just out of the podium positions, his teammate Adrien Van Beveren had taken the final spot after his faultless 48 Hour Chrono win so the Chilean’s aim was to get back in the hunt.  In spite of a small fall he carved out over a three minute gap to reigning World Rally-Raid champion Luciano Benavides.  Achieving his goal he is now back into third, just six minutes 48 seconds off leader Ricky Brabec.

As the 2020 Dakar Rally winner and with vast experience in the world of rally-raid,  Brabec has been consistent since the start in AlUla where he’s been in the top three of the overall standings before nabbing the top spot after the 48 Hour Chrono on Friday. Catching teammate Adrien Van Beveren and  Toby Price during the stage today, he joined in for a share of the bonuses gaining nearly four minutes. His fifth place finish was just enough to keep him at the top of the overall standings by the narrowest of margins to  Ross Branch.  An astonishing single second separates them after 32 hours of rallying!

First one out onto the stage, Adrien Van Beveren was always going to find it a tough ask to not lose time today. After conquering the dunes at the end of last week, a change of terrain and complicated navigation saw him end the day in a very frustrating ninth.  Despite the stage six winner hoovering up over five minutes in bonuses, the gap to Brabec in the overall standings has increased to over fourteen minutes and has dropped him off the podium.  A better starting position tomorrow should help to rectify things. 

The 48 Hour Chrono derailed Pablo Quintanilla’s shot at overall victory and although his aim was to end the rally strongly for world championship points, he suffered another setback today 112 km into the stage. Suffering from a mechanical issue he eventually got to the finish line two and half hours behind Cornejo on a long day for the Chilean rider.

The intensity of this 46th edition of the Dakar continues as the team heads into the final five days of rallying with a total of 678 km on the bike tomorrow, 458 km making up the special stage.  Although the organisers have said stage eight from Al Duwadimi to Ha’il will be easier than the previous days, rocky terrain is back on the route tomorrow and it won’t favour every rider.         

Luciano Benavides, thoroughly rejuvenated following the rest day, battled through the extensive and challenging stage seven of the 2024 Dakar Rally to secure the second-fastest time. Maintaining his eighth-place position in the provisional overall rankings, the Husqvarna Factory Racing rider now has his sights set on carrying his momentum and speed into day eight of the race.

It was another challenging day in the desert for all competitors as the 2024 Dakar Rally headed into week two. With a total distance of 873 kilometres ahead of him, Benavides set off into the stage well-rested after his day off. The time to relax and regroup undoubtedly paid off for the Argentinian. Sixth into the special, Luciano got his head down and pushed hard right from the start. 

Maintaining a consistent speed throughout the challenging 483-kilometre special, which took competitors along winding, rocky paths before transitioning into a stretch of dunes, Benavides steadily improved his position to ultimately secure his runner-up finish. The excellent result ensures the FR 450 Rally rider retained his eighth-place position in the overall rankings with five stages left to complete.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Kevin Benavides has finished third on a tough and physically demanding seventh stage at the 2024 Dakar Rally. The KTM 450 RALLY racer now lies fifth overall in the provisional standings. Also delivering a strong performance on the long stage, Toby Price posted the eighth fastest time and sits one place behind his teammate in sixth overall.

Returning to action following their well-deserved rest day, riders were immediately put to the test as they tackled the longest stage of this year’s event – the 873-kilometer stage seven. After initially navigating through a maze of canyons and rocky tracks, competitors then faced an intense section of dunes to complete the 483-kilometer timed special.

Following on from his seventh-place result on the rally’s 48-hour marathon stage, Benavides used today’s later start position to the best of his advantage, pushing hard with the goal of chasing down the riders ahead. Midway through the special, Kevin moved into the top two on the timesheets, locked in a closely fought battle for the lead. Crossing the line as second-fastest, a subsequent three-minute penalty knocked him down to third. However, the Argentinian’s result was still strong enough to elevate him up to fifth overall in the provisional standings.

As the second rider to enter stage seven, Price soon caught up with the one rider ahead of him and assisted in opening the special. Despite not making too many errors, and accumulating close to four minutes in bonus time, Toby ultimately lost out on the rider behind following in his wheel tracks. Completing the stage in eighth place, the Australian now lies sixth in the overall standings with five days left to race.

After enjoying a little down time on yesterday’s Dakar Rally rest day, Daniel Sanders was back in action today on stage seven and clocked in with the sixth-fastest time. Starting from fourth into the special, sixth is certainly a solid result with the Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing star remaining seventh overall and positive of even better days ahead.

Feeling fresh after delivering an outstanding result on the chrono stage and making the most of the Dakar Rally rest day, Sanders certainly came out swinging on stage seven. Even though he didn’t have the most favorable starting position after placing fourth on Friday, Chucky dug deep to deliver another strong result. By relying on his roadbook early on then following the dust kicked up by the leading riders, Daniel would ultimately finish the 483-kilometer timed special as the sixth-fastest rider.

Muddy Moto Is Nothing New!

A champion or two in this picture

Sexton, Tomac and SF Mud!

Mud, Mud and more Mud. Chase races to the win.

Rain, and plenty of it. That was the order of the day here in San Francisco, and thanks to abundant precipitation, both during the week and just about all day on race day, round two of Monster Energy AMA Supercross was a destined to be a mudder for the ages before the first gate even dropped. And when the rain intensified about halfway through the night program, so did the uncertainty of how things might play out in the main events. But who benefitted, and who came up on the losing end of the murky puddles in Oracle Park? Let’s splash into this week’s Saturday Night Live to find out.

The biggest winner of the night, quite literally, was Chase Sexton. The Red Bull KTM rider followed the book to the letter on how to win a mud race by getting out front, building a gap, and avoiding any mistakes that could take his wheels out from underneath him. The result? A brilliant performance, in which he led every single lap, and took over the points lead from Jett Lawrence. But even after such a great night, Sexton acknowledged that mud races are an outlier, and aren’t necessarily an indicator of how well he and his bike are performing.

“I didn't think we'd get here this fast, to be honest,” Sexton said on his comfort level and having the points lead. “I thought I was gonna really have to be patient and just trying to work into a good position with the bike and I knew it was gonna take a lot of time. We were testing some big, big changes the week of Anaheim. So, the week before Anaheim, they got me pretty comfortable with the rear of the bike. I was pretty happy with it, but it wasn't complete yet and this week we did some big changes and I feel like we're getting really, really close…I mean, we are good but there's always a little small stuff you can make [better].”

“I think from here on out…I expect myself to battle with Jett and whoever's up there,” Sexton continued. “Honestly, it could be a different podium every weekend, there's so many good guys that you can't really single out one person. It's gonna be a brawl and I'm here for it and definitely think I'm in the right head space and position to battle for wins for the rest of the season.”

As well as Sexton rode, there were moments when it seemed as though Eli Tomac would weigh in on who would be standing in the middle of the podium at the end of the night. After fighting his way into second place, Tomac was still figuring out the fastest way around the track. Sexton was faster in these early stages, but Tomac, who was a good 12 seconds back of Sexton at one point, started closing in on the lead as the race wore on. Tomac was able to get it down to about three seconds, but was never able to get close enough to put any moves on Sexton. He’d finish the night in second, while also jumping up to third overall in the standings.

“You know, my goal was to get on the podium,” Tomac said expectation wise heading into Saturday’s race after saying he simply "underperformed" at the opener. “I mean, that was my mindset and that's how good I felt physically. So, I wasn't like limping my in here at all. So, yeah, this is where I wanna be and where I hope to be. You know, Anaheim 1 was obviously really tough for me. Was just totally off, rode, really tight and there was nothing good about it. But here, put myself in a great position off the start there. So, key to be at least top three, you know, or in the front, like a couple of guys here did not get sprayed with mud when you go through that first turn. So that was my focus for the main and was able to execute that and then just try to stay on two wheels at that point.”

“It was one of the tougher ones,” Tomac put it simply in the post-race press conference.

Jeff Would Have Liked SF Supercross

Jeff Smith two time 500cc World MX Champion before the two stroke took over would be right at home on today's four strokes.

Quotes From the SF Mudder

Results, Podium Quotes and More From San Francisco Supercross

by Slaw Dog January 14, 2024,

Whelp, it took all of two rounds to get our first mudder of the year. I’m not a fan of mudders, but hey, that’s why we go racing.

Scroll below for podium quotes, results and more from round 2 of the 2024 Monster Energy Supercross Championship.

Whelp, it took all of two rounds to get our first mudder of the year. I’m not a fan of mudders, but hey, that’s why we go racing.

Scroll below for podium quotes, results and more from round 2 of the 2024 Monster Energy Supercross Championship.

450SX Podium Quotes

Chase Sexton

“Leading the race in a mud situation, it’s obviously where you want to be because you’re not getting roosted, but it also seems like it lasts forever. The first couple laps when I was by myself and I wasn’t dealing with lapped traffic it felt, not easy, but I had a good flow and was able to hit my lines. Then once we got into lapped traffic, that’s when the race kinda starts and being able to pick around those guys is key… It’s tough not to make a mistake out there but I was fairly consistent every lap and was pretty happy with how consistent I was.”

Eli Tomac

“It was tough. It was like, it started out really thick, and then it stayed thick enough even with all that water. A lot of times when it’s just pure rain the whole time it’s not too bad because the ruts don’t get super deep and you’re kinda just spraying it around. But this one… I went in [an inside rut] one time and got stuck for like a second or two. It was one of those tracks where it was just heavy dirt, super deep ruts. And then there was another time in the second rhythm section I almost looped out because I grabbed a handful of throttle and hung off the back. But this was one of the tougher ones.”

Ken Roczen

“My mindset was [focused on] getting going. As soon as I got going I’m like, ‘Okay, this is 15 minutes, this is enough time, with people struggling going left and right… we can still make something happen.’ So I really just put my head down and charged forward. I was kinda blown away and really happy at the same time that I caught up to the field quick and was able to just pick people off left and right… I just wanted to go and go and kinda try to have fun with it.”