The Dakar 2024 has come to an end and Tobias Ebster has confirmed himself as the best rookie of this edition. The pilot led the Rookie Challenge from the first stage, after Dusan Drdaj (Orion Moto Racing Group/KTM) was stronger in the prologue. Bruno Santos came in second.
On board a KTM from the Kini Rally Racing Team, Ebster had Drdaj as his main rival until the sixth stage when the Czech was out of contention. From then on, the German had over an hour’s lead over Jeremy Miroir (Fantic Racing).
The Frenchman even won the seventh stage, but a day later he fell behind and, until the end, it was Santos (XRaids Experience/Husqvarna) who chased Ebster. However, he was already over two hours behind. The Portuguese rider had a consistent performance, even winning the eighth stage among the rookies.
However, Ebster managed his lead well, increased it, and finished with a 2h55m16s advantage over Santos in the final rookie classification – being 20th in the overall classification. Miroir closed the podium with a 4h35m39s disadvantage.
Top ten final rookies:
