The 2024 Dakar Rally continues to be a Honda dream event, with the team’s sixth stage victory today. Teammates Adrien Van Beveren, Ricky Brabec, and Pablo Quintanilla went 1-2-3 on the day and now occupy three of the top four spots overall. Ricky Brabec continues to have near-perfect rides from day to day, always close to the front but never getting a stage victory and, therefore, never having to start first. His lead in the overall standings has now grown to 7 minutes, although Hero’s Ross Branch won’t let go of second overall and is the only fly in the Honda ointment.
Ricky Brabec: “Today was possibly one of my only shots to make a big push and try to make a bit bigger gap than forty or fifty seconds, so I gave it my all today. I think tomorrow we’re probably going to have to open, but if I can clean up, I think we’ll be set free.
In the 2020 Dakar, I pulled a gap early on, and this has definitely been the most stressful race of my life because it’s so close. Anyway, with a few more days to go, let’s keep the hopes up and keep charging.”
Jacob Argubright: “Little bit of a bittersweet day for me. I rode really well and finished P15… but I missed my first waypoint ever, and the penalty put me back to P23. I still had a really fun day on the bike, so I’m going to continue bringing that energy into the last 3 stages!”
Kyle McCoy is the U.S. service veteran who is riding in his third Dakar. Currently, he is running 12th in the Originals By Motul classification, which allows no outside assistance. On social media, he recently posted his account of a harrowing incident on Stage 7: “I came over the crest of a very large dune right as the cars caught up to us in the mid-pack. When I came to the bottom of the dune, I dropped the bike in the sand. I was in the main line of traffic when this happened (which I normally avoid for this reason), so I rushed to pick it up and get going. Only the bike didn’t start. I ran up the dune as fast as possible on all fours, clawing at the sand to mark my position with my helmet right as one of the lead cars came at me. Then I ran back down as cars and bikes came through all around me. It took me a while until it was quiet, and I realized I couldn’t hear the fuel pump when I pressed the starter. All this happened in a very chaotic, sweaty, and loud way. Then a nice French man came on the phone from Paris to my bike and asked if I was okay. I said yes, it was mechanical. He then asked, “How long will it take you?” What??!!!! I said I had no idea. 5 min later, he said it again and then again until I shouted to the nice French guy I needed him to shut up. I said it with more direct language than that :)… he was just doing his job, though. I then remembered it’s usually the fuel tank selector (front to rear) when you don’t hear the fuel pump, and there’s a bypass created by BAS Dakar that I had on me. I took it apart and plugged it in, and voila. I’ve done some stressful things (like all of us), but this was one of the top 5 in my life. The low and high were so extreme I can’t express it in words.”
Stage 9 Results:
1. Adrien Van Beveren, Monster Energy Honda Team – 04H 36′ 46”
2. Ricky Brabec, Monster Energy Honda Team + 00H 00′ 32”
3. Pablo Quintanilla, Monster Energy Honda Team + 00H 04′ 19”
4. Toby Price, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing + 00H 06′ 34”
5. Ross Branch, Hero MotoSports Team Rally + 00H 06′ 59”
6. Kevin Benavides, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing + 00H 08′ 13”
7. Jose Ignacio Cornejo Florimo, Monster Energy Honda Team + 00H 09′ 57”
8. Luciano Benavides, Husqvarna Factory Racing + 00H 10′ 06”
9. Stefan Svitko, Slovnaft Rally Team + 00H 12′ 28”
10. Bradley Cox, BAS World KTM Racing Team + 00H 12′ 54”
23. Jacob Argubright, DUUST Rally Team + 00H 32′ 10”
80. Kyle McCoy, American Rally Originals + 02H 45′ 35”
96. Weston Carr, HT Rally Raid Husqvarna Racing + 03H 28′ 19”
Standings After Stage 9:
1. Ricky Brabec, Monster Energy Honda Team – 40H 53′ 49”
2. Ross Branch, Hero MotoSports Team Rally + 00H 07′ 09”
3. Adrien Van Beveren, Monster Energy Honda Team + 00H 11′ 26”
4. Jose Ignacio Cornejo Florimo, Monster Energy Honda Team + 00H 13′ 46”
5. Kevin Benavides, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing + 00H 28′ 12”
6. Toby Price, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing + 00H 35′ 12”
7. Luciano Benavides, Husqvarna Factory Racing + 00H 49′ 09”
8. Daniel Sanders, Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing + 00H 59′ 47”
9. Stefan Svitko, Slovnaft Rally Team + 01H 23′ 49”
10. Martin Michek, Orion – Moto Racing Group + 02H 20′ 35”
68. Kyle McCoy, American Rally Originals + 21H 19′ 44”
77. Weston Carr, HT Rally Raid Husqvarna Racing + 24H 13′ 18”
92. Jacob Argubright, DUUST Rally Team + 53H 31′ 25”
