The 2024 Dakar Rally got just a little tighter after stage eight. KTM’s Kevin Benavides made up ground on the leaders by winning the stage narrowly over his Husqvarna-riding brother Luciano. Adrien Van Beveren was third, and now he finds himself very much in contention for the overall, with 11 minutes to make up in the remaining four days.
By finishing seventh today, overall leader Ricky Brabec did manage to get a slightly bigger cushion over second-place Ross Branch, but the two riders are still separated by less than a minute. Today’s stage saw riders travel north from Al Duwadimi to Ha’il with a 125 km road section before sandy tracks and big difficult dunes that would play a part of the 458 km special stage.
Entering a non-timed transfer zone of 179 km would then take them back against the clock at the 344 km mark of the special, as the change to stony terrain would take them ever closer to the arrival point in the shadows of the Shammar mountain range.
Ricky Brabec: “I 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. I caught him early on, so I stuck with him all day. Then, at the refueling 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.”
Jacob Argubright: “A nice, uneventful stage 8 today. I struggled a little bit in the camel grass and dunes with bike setup but picked it up towards the end for P16.”
1. Kevin Benavides, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing: 03:35:03
2. Luciano Benavides, Husqvarna Factory Racing: +00:00:31
3. Adrien Van Beveren, Monster Energy Honda Team: +00:01:27
4. Jose Ignacio Cornejo Florimo, Monster Energy Honda Team: +00:01:41
5. Toby Price, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing: +00:02:18
6. Rui Gonçalves, Sherco Rally Factory: +00:02:24
7. Ricky Brabec, Monster Energy Honda Team: +00:04:08
8. Ross Branch, Hero Motosports Team Rally: +00:04:49
9. Daniel Sanders, Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing: +00:05:10
10. Stefan Svitko, Slovnaft Rally Team: +00:05:28
16. Jacob Argubright, Duust Rally Team: +00:13:52
69. Kyle McCoy, American Rally Originals: +01:36:50
81. Weston Carr, HT Rally Raid Husqvarna Racing: +01:45:52
Standings after Stage 8:
1. Ricky Brabec, Monster Energy Honda Team: 36:16:31
2. Ross Branch, Hero Motosports Team Rally: +00:00:42
3. Jose Ignacio Cornejo Florimo, Monster Energy Honda Team: +00:04:21
4. Adrien Van Beveren, Monster Energy Honda Team: +00:11:58
5. Kevin Benavides, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing: +00:20:31
6. Toby Price, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing: +00:29:10
7. Daniel Sanders, Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing: +00:38:43
8. Luciano Benavides, Husqvarna Factory Racing: +00:39:35 (Penalty: +00:15:00)
9. Stefan Svitko, Slovnaft Rally Team: +01:11:53
10. Martin Michek, Orion – Moto Racing Group: +01:56:53
67. Kyle McCoy, American Rally Originals: +18:34:41
75. Weston Carr, HT Rally Raid Husqvarna Racing: +20:45:31
97. Jacob Argubright, Duust Rally Team: +52:59:47
