The Dakar 2024 motorcycle category is getting tighter. The parity between the favorites is huge and, as the days go by, things are getting more exciting. After a surprising start by Ross Branch, who gained more than 11 minutes on his chasers in stage 1, things gradually returned to normal on two wheels, with big names emerging and positioning themselves to win Among them, those from Honda, who were strong this Monday with great teamwork pulling the car in front of everyone, finishing in style, with Pablo Quintanilla winning stage 3, achieving the second consecutive victory by Honda, the second followed by a Chilean after achieving one. by Cornejo in stage 2. Branch continues to lead, but with less margin and with 4 Hondas behind him.
Ross Branch continues to dominate the Hondas
After the dispute on stage 3, Ross Branch (Hero), maintains an advantage of 4’11” over José Ignacio Cornejo, with Ricky Brabec in 3rd position at 5’08”, Pablo Quintanilla in 4th at 11’16” and Adrien Van Beveren, a bit behind, at 21’16”.
Kevin Benavides, first KTM
They were followed by Kevin Benavides, first KTM, who reappeared this Monday after a start in Dakar that was quite far from the best, where he lost 23’50” with respect to the leader in just three days (prologue and two stages ).Usually, he arrived in Dakar after he suffered a fibula fracture on December 3, a month before the test. At first, he thought he would miss the event and not be able to defend the crown he won last year. But fought back he like the hardest to come in time, still injured, very little, but not changing his goal: to win the Dakar for the third time.
In pain, he went for his first stage victory and was in fact 1’07” behind the best with 80 kilometers to go. But at the end of the special, the speed of Pablo Quintanilla (1st) and Joan Barreda (2nd ) ) was superior and Kevin finished in the same position, 3rd in stage 3. The Argentine thus placed himself 21’32” overall with respect to the leader of the Branch, in 6th place, as leader of the KTM despite the pain. He still has a long way to go, but he sends a warning that we still have to consider a world left, at least 9 episodes.
Quintantilla and Barreda, to open the track in stage 4
Having won the previous day, Cornejo had the difficult task of opening the starting track. But Pablo Quintanilla, with devilish speed at the start, soon caught up with him and told him to get on his wheel to pull the car, with Ricky Brabec chasing them from afar. So, Pablo, with a 3’33” bonus for the kilometers he opened the track, won the stage and managed to shave 4’04” off Ross Branch, who was 5th, to tighten up the general classification.
Joan Barreda, with an excellent 17th starting position, had a good chance for his first victory with Hero, his first stage victory in this Dakar and which would be the 30th for Torreblanca in Dakar on motorcycles, which would put him just 3 away from the record. Joan tried it. He was only 20 seconds behind Pablo with the last 80 kilometers to go, but in that final sprint, Pablo took the lead and ended up winning by 1’38”. Joan was 8th overall in 26’30”, away, but not completely stop trying.
Anything can happen in an endurance race where the favorite leaves every day. In stage 1, Schareina left due to a fall. In stage 2, Santolino suffered an initial mechanical problem that forced him to board the helicopter. And in stage 3, Sam Sunderland, the champion of Dakar 2022, had to leave because of an initial problem with his motorcycle.
Now, in the 4th stage, from Al Salamiya to Al-Hofuf, 299 kilometers that stretch to a desert oasis in the middle of three million date palms, Pablo Quintanilla and Joan Barreda must reduce losses by of opening the track in a short, less difficult, but apparently complicated in terms of navigation.
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.
