Dakar madness on motorcycles: one second between the leader and 2nd after almost 2,800 kilometers!

The fight for the victory of the Dakar on motorcycles continues with maximum equality and emotion after stage 7 held this Sunday between Riyadh and Al-Duwadimi, with 483 kilometers special after being recharged by the pilot their batteries on their rest day on Saturday. This Sunday, the final stage, the second week of the toughest race in the world, began with a stage victory for Honda’s Chilean José Ignacio Cornejo, who claimed his second victory in this Dakar on two wheels. After him came Kevin Benavides (32 seconds away), Luciano Benavides, more than 3 minutes away and one of the great heroes of this Dakar, Ross Branch who continues to dream big with his Hero. Ross tightened things up. He started with a 51″ overall from Brabec and this Sunday he was only 1 second behind the leader of the Dakar, the American from Honda, 2020 champion.

Nacho, the stage winner, moved up one place in the general classification, overtaking his teammate Van Beveren in third place as the Frenchman paid dearly for opening the track to win the marathon stage. With no change in the classifications, Van Beveren surrendered 12 minutes and 44 seconds despite the 5 minute bonus he received for opening the track for most of the stage. Then they also opened Price, who finally lost by 11 minutes, very far from the title. And Brabec gave way, leading the special part as well. The American lost 7’26” to the winner, but was able to maintain the overall lead by just over a second thanks to Branch’s 6’36”.

In this way, stage 8 looks exciting, where Brabec starts just behind Brach to try to get him a few minutes in the general classification and thus continue a give and take that, if there are no crashes or problems, can last until the last day and the last meter of the Dakar. 7 special stages passed, 2791 kilometers, and the gap between the first and the one chasing him was only one second. This is the Dakar on motorcycles. A very close race, of going to the maximum every meter, of pure survival, where Brabec and Branch seek glory.

Cornejo, winner of stage 7, was 6’48” behind the overall leader, his Honda teammate, and had to open the track on stage 8, knowing that he would have to lose time again. For his part, the pilot also Honda’s Adrien Van Beveren was 4th in 14’39”. The first KTm was that of Kevin Benavides, 5th, in 21’39”, with Toby Price in 31 minutes, very far behind.