Luciano Benavides is in a state of grace. The Argentinian of Husqvarna He achieved his third victory currently Dakar 2023 prevailing in stage 11, one of what must be one of the most complex of all Dakar, but in the end, it’s not much. He won stages 6 and 9 and this Thursday and the pilot from Salta achieved the triple in this difficult day on Thursday, in the first part of the marathon stage, where the pilots reached the heart of the fear. ‘Empty Quarter’, in the middle of a sea of sand dunes, without the help of their pilots and having to repair their own motorcycles. Much was expected from this area of sand, but in the end it was not a complication for the great two-wheeled stars, who entered the finish line with few differences.
Luciano prevailed with an advantage of 1’38” over Sandersof 1’56 compared to Toby Price2’09” with respect to Skyler Howes and 2’54 about Quintanilla on a very even day, more than expected due to the supposed difficulty of kilometers and kilometers of soft sands, alternating with their presence of dry lakes, located in the middle of the desert of Rub’al Khali, an unexplored area.
It was expected that big differences could be made at this stage, but despite the high pace of everything, with the limit of front riders and no reservations, the fight for the throne left an orphan. sunderlands in his abandonment he continued in a handkerchief.
The general, in a handkerchief
Kevin Benavides faced this stage as the overall leader with a margin of 1’29” over Howes and 2’10 over Price. Starting at the front cost him time, but he survived a difficult day very well to stay in the fight. The motorcycle fight was a constant give and take, a daily exchange of blows in which Howes, Price and Benavides stayed on their feet, no scratches on their faces, with their gloves ready to keep hitting. The lead after stage 11 returned to Skyler Howes, just 28 seconds clear of Toby Price (winner of Dakar 2016 and 2019) and with a 2’44” margin against Kevin Benavides (2021 Dakar champion).
After the first group of three escapees, came another who did not throw in the towel, with Pablo Quintanilla in 14’14”, Adrien Van Beveren in 15’24”, Luciano Benavides in 18’06” and a little further away, the always dangerous Daniel Sanders, 7th in 21’40”. This Friday, after fixing the mechanics of their motorcycles with their own hands as they now arrive at the special camp for the marathon stage in the ‘Empty Quarter’, everyone will attack hard in the second part of the marathon stage, with more laces kilometers of sands of all kinds that will replace many dry lakes. The match looked exciting until the end.
Santolino, in the Top-10 stage again
Lorenzo Santolino completed another great stage, again inside the Top-10, this time in the 8th position of the day at 5’43”. In the previous stage, a 15-minute penalty removed him from the race for tenth place overall, but the Guijuelo native is still fighting. He is 11th, 59′ behind the leader, but 14’15” behind the Top-10 marked by Walkner.
For his part, Tosha Schareina continues to be among the best riders in the category and this Thursday he finished 12th on a sand-filled stage, 8’01” behind the winner. The Valencian occupies 15th place, 13’54” from 14th overall.
Classification Stage 11, motorcycles:
Temporarily
1. (ARG) LUCIANO BENAVIDES
HUSQVARNA FACTORY RACING
2. AUS) DANIEL SANDERS
RED BULL GASGAS FACTORY RACING
+00H 01’38”
3. (AUS) TOBY PRICE
RED BULL KTM FACTORY RACING
+00H 01’56”
4. (USA) SKYLER HOWES
HUSQVARNA FACTORY RACING
+00H 02’09”
5. (CHL) PABLO QUINTANILLA
MONSTER ENERGY HONDA TEAM
+00H02’54”
6. (DEU) SEBASTIAN BUHLER
HERO MOTOSPORTS TEAM RALLY
+00H 05’06”
7. (FRA) ROMAIN DUMONTIER
TEAM DUMONTIER RACING
+00H 05’34”
8. (ENG) LORENZO SANTOLINO
SHERCO FACTORY
+00H 05’43”
9. (ARG) FRANCO CAIMI
HERO MOTOSPORTS TEAM RALLY
+00H05’58”
10. (ARG) KEVIN BENAVIDES
RED BULL KTM FACTORY RACING
+00H 06’22”
The
12. (ENG) TOSHA SCHAREINA
BAS WORLD KTM RACING TEAM
+00H 08’01”
The
17. (FRA) ADRIEN VAN BEVEREN
MONSTER ENERGY HONDA TEAM
+ 00H 09′ 10”
The
The30. (ENG) JOAN PEDRERO GARCIA
TEAM LS2 SHAD
+00H 27′ 10”
Overall ranking:
Temporarily, after episode 11
1. (USA) SKYLER HOWES
HUSQVARNA FACTORY RACING
00H 01’00”
2. (AUS) TOBY PRICE
RED BULL KTM FACTORY RACING
+00H 00’28”
3. (ARG) KEVIN BENAVIDES
RED BULL KTM FACTORY RACING
+00H 02’44”
4. (CHL) PABLO QUINTANILLA
MONSTER ENERGY HONDA TEAM
+00H 14’14”
5. (FRA) ADRIEN VAN BEVEREN
MONSTER ENERGY HONDA TEAM
+00H 15’24”
6. (ARG) LUCIANO BENAVIDES
HUSQVARNA FACTORY RACING
+00H 18’06”
7. (AU) DANIEL SANDERS
RED BULL GASGAS FACTORY RACING
+ 00H 21′ 40”
8. (CHL) JOSE IGNACIO CORNEJO FLORIMO
MONSTER ENERGY HONDA TEAM
+ 00H 25′ 40”
9. (USA) MASON KLEIN
BAS WORLD KTM RACING TEAM
+00H 31’35”
10. (AUT) MATTHIAS WALKNER
RED BULL KTM FACTORY RACING
+00H 44’45”
11. (ENG) LORENZO SANTOLINO
SHERCO FACTORY
+00H 59’00”
12. (ARG) FRANCO CAIMI
HERO MOTOSPORTS TEAM RALLY
+ 01H 22′ 57”
13. (CZE) MARTIN MICHEK
ORION – MOTO RACING GROUP
+ 01H 23′ 09”
14. (SVK) STEFAN SVITKO
SLOVNAFT RALLY TEAM
+ 01H 32′ 06”
15. (ENG) TOSHA SCHAREINA
BAS WORLD KTM RACING TEAM
+ 01H 46′ 00”
The
21. (ENG) JOAN PEDRERO GARCIA
TEAM LS2 SHAD 4
+ 03H 45′ 14”
The
31. (ENG) JAVI VEGA
POINT GROUP YAMAHA
+ 07H 03′ 26”
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
