The Frenchman takes his sixth successive Dakar victory and is confirmed second overall to the Qatari, who will take the title Price and Kevin Benavides will rule motorcycles on the final day: just 12 seconds between them
Nasser Al-Attiyah will enjoy a victory parade this Sunday as he reaches the final goal of the 2023 Dakar, having maintained his lead over the legendary Sebastien Loeb. The Frenchman took his sixth win in a row, surpassing the milestone achieved by himself the day before and that of the almost mythical Ari Vatanen in 1989. He also tied the score for most partial wins in the same edition, seven, ties him with Carlos Sainz, which she achieved in 2011. Like him, Loeb will not be the winner of this raid.
Although the Frenchman managed to overtake Moraes in the general classification to confirm a spectacular recovery after the problems of the early days, he has not been able to catch up with Al-Attiyah who has been working to temporize his lead over the past week. . Without Sainz, Al-Rahji or Peterhansel, he had only Loeb as a rival. It’s been several days since he knew he was the winner of the Dakar, so all he had to do was check that it didn’t cost too many points for the Cross-Country World Championship, something that is a secondary goal for him.
“I am happy to be able to keep the lead until the finish. It’s important for the championship to be there like today, because it gives us points against a ‘Séb’ who doesn’t stop playing tricks to win the stage. By finishing just behind him, the difference is limited to one point today, but hey, the most important thing for me is the victory in the Dakar. It was a fantastic race for us, now we just have to take the title home,” the Qatari emphasized at the finish of Al-Hofuf.
He will be this edition’s ‘Touareg’ trophy, fifth in his record, and therefore will establish himself as one of the greatest in the car category, breaking the tie with Vatanen (who won four) but still three are pending. to match the eight that Peterhansel has conquered on four wheels alone. Al-Attiyah has yet to become the new ‘Mr Dakar’.
All the emotion that has so far been missing from the car category is provided to the end by the motorcycle category. Kevin Benavides has taken the penultimate victory of this Dakar after a few moments of confusion in which Michael Doherty was declared the first winner. The Husqvarna man had come in first, but the organization gave the Argentinian from KTM over 20 minutes back for helping Matthias Walkner, who had an accident, for which he was named winner of the day at the end of the day.
With this result and the 2:28 Toby Price posted at the finish, both are just 12 seconds apart for the final day. The Australian, who already knows what it’s like to win the Dakar twice thanks to the Argentinian, will do everything he can to keep his teammate’s fame, while it’s a golden opportunity for Benavides to show that KTM’s dedication to he is more than justified.
It will also be a very special stage. In accordance with the regulations, and to give more substance to the last day of the raid, the riders will start in reverse order of the standings, so Benavides will start penultimate bike and Price last. This means that both already have all competitors’ lines in front of them, which robs the emotion of the battle with navigation, but helps to make it a ‘full throttle’ attack without leaving anything out.
With only 12 seconds between them, a minimal mistake or a fall could be fatal, something Skyler Howes clings to, who despite being the driver who has spent the most days at the front of the standings, will say goodbye without the glory…unless he is able to cut the nearly three and a half minutes he is behind with the KTM duo into the few 136 timed miles left.
The final goal of the 2023 Dakar on the shores of the Red Sea on the beaches of Dammam will be the icing on the cake for a raid that is much less strenuous and exciting than expected on four wheels, but much more so on two wheels.
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.
