Stage two of the 2024 Dakar Rally was another difficult day for both riding and navigation. It was a very good day for the Monster Energy HRC Honda Team. Nacho Cornejo caught up to yesterday’s stage winner Ross Branch of the Hero rally team, as did Ricky Brabec.
The three of them shared leader bonuses at various points of the course. When it was all over, Nacho got the stage victory, Branch remained in the overall lead, and Brabec moved up to third overall with a fifth-place finish. Skyler Howes also had a much better day, finishing eighth on the stage and moving up to 18th overall after his bad luck in the two preceding days.
Today’s bad luck award went to Mason Klein, who lost over two hours when his Kove experienced a mechanical failure. Klein’s dreams of a top finish are over, but he remains in the rally with the hope of scoring stage victories. Jacob Argubright also had some bad luck, albeit on a much lesser scale. He lost his seat and had to spend most of the long day standing. Tomorrow will be the first half of a marathon stage, where the riders will have to make do without outside assistance.
Ricky Brabec: “It’s only day two and we have eleven days left, it’s a long rally but I’m happy to be here and to get to ride in a group with my teammates. If you can ride with other people it all makes it fun. It’s always difficult to open the road especially when the stage is over 460 km long, but I’m happy to be here, so let’s keep the good vibes rolling and make it to the finish line.”
Skyler Howes: “It was a better result than yesterday but I’m still falling short of what I expect out of myself. I was pushing hard on the tracks and when you do this you either have to focus on the terrain or on the road book and to do both at a super high speed is difficult to do.
I was managing and doing a pretty good job, but twice I made some mistakes which was totally my fault. The stage itself was really fun as we had more rocks out there which I enjoyed. I feel like I rode better through them and I feel fresher than I did yesterday, so all in all it was a good day.”
Jacob Argubright: “My seat came off the first 10km of the stage today so had to do 450km without it. I’m not going to be a sore ass about it, but it was a long day in and without a saddle. Not totally sure what happened but it is a test bike and sh*t happens, so I guess I’m testing it well. Other than that it was an okay day, had some navigation troubles here and there but I made it. Lost my time card as well so received a time penalty. P26 on the day and P21 in the general standings. Can’t wait to grab a seat and enjoy the show tomorrow.”
Stage 2 Results:
1. Jose Ignacio Cornejo Florimo, Monster Energy Honda Team – 04H 24′ 17”
2. Luciano Benavides, Husqvarna Factory Racing + 00H 05′ 59”
3. Pablo Quintanilla, Monster Energy Honda Team + 00H 06′ 12”
4. Sebastian Bühler, Hero Motosports Team Rally + 00H 06′ 47”
5. Ricky Brabec, Monster Energy Honda Team + 00H 07′ 14”
6. Sam Sunderland, Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing + 00H 07′ 17”
7. Toby Price, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing + 00H 07′ 40”
8. Skyler Howes, Monster Energy Honda Team + 00H 09′ 39”
9. Adrien Van Beveren, Monster Energy Honda Team + 00H 11′ 32”
10. Stefan Svitko, Slonaft Rally Team + 00H 11′ 39”
11. Ross Branch, Hero Motosports Team Rally + 00H 11′ 53”
12. Daniel Sanders, Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing + 00H 12′ 30”
13. Rui Gonçalvess, Sherco Rally Factory + 00H 16′ 02”
32. Jacob Argubright, Duust Rally Team + 00H 32′ 39”
97. Weston Carr, HT Rally Raid Husqvarna Racing + 02H 04′ 04”
107. Kyle McCoy, American Rally Originals + 02H 11′ 13”
117. Mason Klein, Korr Offroad Racing + 02H 29′ 34”
Standings after Stage 2:
1. Ross Branch, Hero Motosports Team Rally – 09H 50′ 05”
2. Jose Ignacio Cornejo Florimo, Monster Energy Honda Team + 00H 02′ 55”
3. Ricky Brabec, Monster Energy Honda Team + 00H 07′ 15”
4. Pablo Quintanilla, Monster Energy Honda Team + 00H 15′ 20”
5. Luciano Benavides, Husqvarna Factory Racing + 00H 17′ 22”
6. Daniel Sanders, Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing + 00H 17′ 24”
7. Sam Sunderland, Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing + 00H 18′ 19”
8. Toby Price, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing + 00H 19′ 39”
9. Adrien Van Beveren, Monster Energy Honda Team + 00H 20′ 43”
10. Martin Michék, Orion – Moto Racing Group + 00H 22′ 58”
11. Kevin Benavides, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, + 00H 23′ 50”
12. Romain Dumontier, Team Dumontier Racing + 00H 25′ 43”
13. Joan Barreda Bort, Hero Motosports Team Rally + 00H 28′ 56”
18. Skyler Howes, Monster Energy Honda Team + 00H 42′ 06”
23. Jacob Argubright, Duust Rally Team + 00H 56′ 11”
45. Mason Klein, Korr Offroad Racing + 02H 29′ 39”
