The first part of the Saudi ‘Empty Quarter’ is more comfortable than expected and allows Howes to regain control of the overall motorcycle standings
The organization of the Dakar had raised the dreaded marathon day for the final stretch of the raid. He had done so by entering the Empty Quarter, the Rub al-Khali desert, the largest sand desert in the world. It looked like it would be an auspicious day to break the plan, but it wasn’t like that in the queen categories. There were no major changes in either the motorcycles or the cars, but there were other classes, such as the T3 light prototypes, where Guillaume de Mevius lost the lead at a critical moment… and it is not the first edition that happened to him.
On two wheels, Skyler Howes retook the lead after just over two minutes behind Luciano Benavides at the finish, knocking his brother Kevin from first in the overall standings. Howes, who can give Husqvarna an unexpected but highly anticipated first Dakar win, will not be able to take anything for granted until the final day. Toby Price, who already knows what it’s like to lift a Touareg (he did it twice, in 2016 and 2019), is looking to keep KTM as the undisputed kings of the (supposedly) toughest raid in the world .
The Australian is less than half a second behind the American, who should not lose sight of the older Benavides, who is 2:44 behind the leader. A priori it shouldn’t be a problem for Price in the remaining three stages, but between those two they can squeeze Howes, who will have to sweat until the last kilometre.
The best Spaniard of the day was again Lorenzo Santolino, eighth on the day, almost six minutes behind the winner, but still outside the ‘top 10’ of the general classification, which is his main target between now and Sunday.
Loeb won’t budge
For a pilot of his experience, it’s not an unusual scenario, but the truth is that he’s having a very hard time. It is not impossible, but highly unlikely that Sebastien Loeb will win the 2023 Dakar. The Frenchman knows it doesn’t even depend on himself to reduce the hour and a half lead over Nasser Al-Attiyah, but he does what he should.
The Prodrive man added his fourth consecutive stage victory, fifth in this edition, in an attempt to assert his quality in the event of a possible problem, failure or error by Al-Attiyah. The Qatari has been saving since the first week, especially after the abandonment of Stéphane Peterhansel and Carlos Sainz, since then he enjoys such a margin that he can allow himself a big loss of time every day.
This Thursday, in a boring opening of the marathon stage, he left Loeb more than six and a half minutes behind and was even passed by the Brazilian Moraes, who is the great sensation of this edition of the Dakar in which he makes his debut . With a sister Toyota next to Al-Attiyah’s, but under the Overdrive structure and with veteran Timo Gottschalk (ex-co-driver of Sainz or Al-Attiyah himself, among others) as a navigator at his side, he is close to achieving a podium in his first raid, as long as Loeb (who is only nine minutes away) doesn’t surpass him between now and Sunday.
As for the Spanish assets, the first rojigualda flag appears on the co-driver’s seat of the Toyota Overdrive 220 owned by Dani Oliveras, a former motorcyclist who works as a navigator for the Argentine company Yacopini in 2023. They occupy the general’s tenth position.
The 2023 Dakar dies between yawns, something that will make many things rethink for 2024. The conclusion of this year’s marathon will be over just 185 kilometers, which does not invite optimism for those who want to see one last surprise. Only a mechanical problem, an error with the GPS or something similar can change this situation. In cars, everything is more than doomed without these wildcards, while in motorcycles, whatever happens, everything will be decided between now and Sunday.
Source: La Verdad
I am Shawn Partain, a journalist and content creator working for the Today Times Live. I specialize in sports journalism, writing articles that cover major sporting events and news stories. With a passion for storytelling and an eye for detail, I strive to be accurate and insightful in my work.
