Stage 6 of the Dakar 2024 was very difficult for the motorcycles and caused confusion, especially because of the great difficulty that all the pilots had in avoiding the problems of running out of gas in the sands. As a result, one of the big favorites, Pablo Quintanilla, went from fighting for the bronze ‘touareg’ to losing by more than two hours after a long day of waiting for someone to give him gas. That was the picture of the first part of stage 6, while in the continuation of this morning’s special, the leading role went to a Dakar legend like Joan Barreda, who had to leave due to a mechanical problem with his Hero.
So, after a very difficult first week, Ricky Brabec went to the rest day as the new leader of the general classification in motorcycles, but with Ross Branch and with two other Honda riders with intact options such as Nacho Cornejo and Adrien Van Beveren He took the victory on stage 6, beating Price by 4’13”, Brabec by 5 minutes and Sanders by 6’55”.
Brabec and Branch, separated by only 51 seconds
Ricky Brabec commands the overall ranking by just 51 seconds, said Branch (Hero), with an 8’14” lead over Chilean Cornejo and a 9’21” margin over Frenchman Van Beveren. In this first week, Honda saw three of its assets surrender, but they closed it out on top and with their three drivers in contention for the top 4 places. Incomparable. For its part, KTM has a long way to go. Australian Toby Price is 27′ away and current champion, Kevin Benavides, is 28’33”. Daniel Sanders is 7th at 35’50” and Luciano Benavides, current W2RC world champion, is 8th at 47’26”.
There are still 6 stages left and anything can happen with over 2,300 kilometers that the competitors still have to travel. Honda has three good options against Ross Branch who, with his Hero, will have to dress up as a hero to face the golden wing, especially after the abandonment of Joan Barreda, who saw his motorcycle stop this Friday in the latter part of the race. . stage 6.
After a well-deserved rest day, on Sunday stage 7 it was Van Beveren’s turn to open up the track ahead of Price and Brabec. Meanwhile, it could be the big day for José Ignacio Cornejo, who will start from a further back position after being 7th in the special 6, with good attacking options in the wake of his rivals and teammates to the team.
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.
