Ricky Brabec just needed to complete the final stage without making any major errors to secure his third Bedouin trophy. Tragically, he made one.
Brabec entered Stage 13 leading the Dakar Rally bike overall by 3:20. It had been a dogfight between him and KTM’s Daniel Sanders and Luciano Benavides, with Brabec taking the top spot after winning the penultimate leg.
With the last stage’s timed section only being 105 kilometers long, he had some breathing room on Benavides so long that he avoided critical mistakes. As such, Brabec led much of the day and seemed to be in good position to win.
That is, until he reached the 98th kilometers. KM 98.40 was marked on the roadbook by a dike where riders must go onto the step-up. However, Brabec took the wrong line through it.
“A quite confusing note led me to choose a line that wasn’t the correct one,” Brabec explained. “When I turned back, Luciano was coming behind me and, seeing the situation, he stayed on the right track, which made the difference in such a close battle.”
Brabec lost significant time due to the error, dropping him from the lead all the way down to eighth in RallyGP for the stage. While Benavides didn’t win the stage and his teammate Edgar Canet did, he more importantly finished 4 minutes and 22 seconds ahead of Brabec, fully erasing the lead and taking the overall by just two seconds.
Besides being his first Dakar triumph, Benavides joins his older brother and two-time champion Kevin to create the second pair of siblings to win an FIM overall. They join fellow Argentinian duo Alejandro and Marcos Patronelli, who combined to win the Quad category five times during the Dakar’s run through their home continent.
Benavides won three stages in his campaign. With Canet too far back and Sanders pressing on despite a broken collarbone, the burden of scoring KTM’s 21st Dakar overall fell on him. He briefly led the overall before Brabec took it from him in Stage 10, then the two alternated the top spot over the next three days.
By the end, Benavides was surrounded by Hondas as Brabec, Tosha Schareina, and Skyler Howes followed.
“I still can’t believe it. I never stopped dreaming,” said Benavides at the finish. “I woke up today full of energy and motivation, just thinking about what I could do and trusting in myself, and that was the key for this Dakar.
“I did this for myself, and this feeling is unreal. To win by just two seconds is unbelievable. I even missed the last two corners and nearly crashed, so it was right on the limit, but it paid off.
“I honestly can’t describe this moment. This is my ninth Dakar, and it shows that if you never stop dreaming, never stop believing, and keep fighting for your goals, anything is possible. I never gave up. Even today, when I was losing time and I saw Ricky pushing hard, I kept telling myself it wasn’t over until the last kilometer. In the end, he made a small mistake and I got it right. It’s just unreal.”
Despite his injury preventing him from repeating, Sanders decided to continue on and still managed to muster a fifth-place run. He edged out Honda’s Adrien Van Beveren by just a minute to place in the top five.
While KTM and Honda squared off, it was a tough going for the other manufacturers. Hoto Motorcycle’s RallyGP debut was soured by Martin Michek being taken out with a mechanical failure while Mason Klein had to deal with a broken exhaust as well as brake and electrical problems. While these troubles relegated Klein to the bottom of the RallyGP order, he still showed solid pace.
At Sherco, Bradley Cox’s race was hampered by a water pump failure while Lorenzo Santolino was taken out by a crash in Stage 2. He wasn’t injured, but the bike was too damaged to continue.
Hero MotoSports’ Ross Branch had to deal with a rear tire issue in Stage 5 followed by an ankle injury when he crashed twice in Stage 9. José Ignacio Cornejo was more conservative in an otherwise brutal race.
“We didn’t achieve the goals we came here for, but standing at the finish line in one piece is always something to be grateful for,” said Cornejo.
Results
| Finish | Overall | Number | Rider | Team | Total Time | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 77 | Luciano Benavides | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 49:00:41 | Leader |
| 2 | 2 | 9 | Ricky Brabec | Monster Energy Honda HRC | 49:00:43 | + 0:02 |
| 3 | 3 | 68 | Tosha Schareina | Monster Energy Honda HRC | 49:25:53 | + 25:12 |
| 4 | 4 | 10 | Skyler Howes | Monster Energy Honda HRC | 49:57:22 | + 56:41 |
| 5 | 5 | 1 | Daniel Sanders | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 50:03:56 | + 1:03:15 |
| 6 | 6 | 42 | Adrien Van Beveren | Monster Energy Honda HRC | 50:05:27 | + 1:04:46 |
| 7 | 7 | 11 | José Ignacio Cornejo | Hero MotoSports Team Rally | 50:40:31 | + 1:39:50 |
| 8 | 8 | 46 | Ross Branch | Hero MotoSports Team Rally | 51:49:56 | + 2:49:15 |
| 9 | 12 | 7 | Bradley Cox* | Sherco Rally Factory Team | 53:42:14 | + 4:41:33 |
| 10 | 14 | 98 | Mason Klein* | Hoto Factory Racing | 54:23:01 | + 5:22:20 |
| 11 | 32 | 73 | Edgar Canet | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 61:10:38 | + 12:09:57 |
| DNF | DNF | 15 | Lorenzo Santolino* | Sherco Rally Factory Team | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | DNF | 17 | Mohammed Al-Balooshi* | RS Moto | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | DNF | 23 | Martin Michek* | Hoto Factory Racing | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | DNF | 142 | Štefan Svitko* | Slovnaft Rally Team | DNF | N/A |
Stage winners
| Stage | Overall | Rider | Total Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prologue | 1 | Edgar Canet | 11:31.9 |
| Stage 1 | 1 | Edgar Canet | 3:16:11 |
| Stage 2 | 1 | Daniel Sanders | 4:13:37 |
| Stage 3 | 1 | Tosha Schareina | 4:26:39 |
| Stage 4 | 1 | Tosha Schareina | 4:31:56 |
| Stage 5 | 1 | Luciano Benavides | 4:05:16 |
| Stage 6 | 1 | Ricky Brabec | 3:41:33 |
| Stage 7 | 1 | Luciano Benavides | 4:00:56 |
| Stage 8 | 1 | Luciano Benavides | 4:26:39 |
| Stage 9 | 1 | Tosha Schareina | 3:45:42 |
| Stage 10 | 1 | Adrien Van Beveren | 4:15:43 |
| Stage 11 | 1 | Skyler Howes | 3:09:02 |
| Stage 12 | 1 | Ricky Brabec | 3:19:01 |
| Stage 13 | 1 | Edgar Canet | 49:03 |
Featured image credit: Julien Delfosse / DPPI / ASO
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