The winner of Stage 8 of the Dakar has been found, and it is a second victory in the current edition: Kevin Benavides.
The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider was the first to complete today’s stage, which connected Al Duwadimi to Hail, in a stage that had a total of 678 km, of which 458 were Special, where the Argentine took 3h3503s to finish.
In second place and only 31s behind was his brother and rival Luciano Benavides (Husqvarna Factory Racing), with Adrien Van Beveren (Monster Energy Honda Team) closing the podium, with a difference of 1m27s from #47.
Outside the top three places was the rider with the most victories so far, Jose Ignacio ‘Nacho’ Cornejo (Monster Energy Honda Team), who was only 14s behind his teammate, with Toby Price (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) finishing in the top five.
Special mention to Rui Gonçalves (Sherco Rally Factory) who had his best performance so far in this edition of the race, finishing sixth, with a difference of 2m24s from K. Benavides, even beating Ricky Brabec (Monster Energy Honda Team), the current leader of the competition.
As usual, we will have a separate piece dedicated to the performance of the Portuguese riders.
Top ten of Stage 8:
| POS. | N° | EXP. | DRIVE-TEAM | TEAM | TIME | VARIATION | PENALITY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 47 | (ARG) KEVIN BENAVIDES | RED BULL KTM FACTORY RACING | 03H 35′ 03” | |||
| 2 | 1 | (ARG) LUCIANO BENAVIDES | HUSQVARNA FACTORY RACING | 03H 35′ 34” | + 00H 00′ 31” | ||
| 3 | 42 | (FRA) ADRIEN VAN BEVEREN | MONSTER ENERGY HONDA TEAM | 03H 36′ 30” | + 00H 01′ 27” | ||
| 4 | 11 | (CHL) JOSE IGNACIO CORNEJO FLORIMO | MONSTER ENERGY HONDA TEAM | 03H 36′ 44” | + 00H 01′ 41” | ||
| 5 | 2 | (AUS) TOBY PRICE | RED BULL KTM FACTORY RACING | 03H 37′ 21” | + 00H 02′ 18” | ||
| 6 | 19 | (PRT) RUI GONÇALVES | SHERCO RALLY FACTORY | 03H 37′ 27” | + 00H 02′ 24” | ||
| 7 | 9 | (USA) RICKY BRABEC | MONSTER ENERGY HONDA TEAM | 03H 39′ 11” | + 00H 04′ 08” | ||
| 8 | 46 | (BWA) ROSS BRANCH | HERO MOTOSPORTS TEAM RALLY | 03H 39′ 52” | + 00H 04′ 49” | ||
| 9 | 5 | (AUS) DANIEL SANDERS | RED BULL GASGAS FACTORY RACING | 03H 40′ 13” | + 00H 05′ 10” | ||
| 10 | 142 | (SVK) STEFAN SVITKO | SLOVNAFT RALLY TEAM | 03H 40′ 31” | + 00H 05′ 28” |
Overall Rating:
| POS. | N° | EXP. | DRIVE-TEAM | TEAM | TIME | VARIATION | PENALITY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 | (USA) RICKY BRABEC | MONSTER ENERGY HONDA TEAM | 36H 16′ 31” | 00H 01′ 00” | ||
| 2 | 46 | (BWA) ROSS BRANCH | HERO MOTOSPORTS TEAM RALLY | 36H 17′ 13” | + 00H 00′ 42” | 00H 01′ 00” | |
| 3 | 11 | (CHL) JOSE IGNACIO CORNEJO FLORIMO | MONSTER ENERGY HONDA TEAM | 36H 20′ 52” | + 00H 04′ 21” | 00H 06′ 00” | |
| 4 | 42 | (FRA) ADRIEN VAN BEVEREN | MONSTER ENERGY HONDA TEAM | 36H 28′ 29” | + 00H 11′ 58” | ||
| 5 | 47 | (ARG) KEVIN BENAVIDES | RED BULL KTM FACTORY RACING | 36H 37′ 02” | + 00H 20′ 31” | 00H 03′ 00” | |
| 6 | 2 | (AUS) TOBY PRICE | RED BULL KTM FACTORY RACING | 36H 45′ 41” | + 00H 29′ 10” | ||
| 7 | 5 | (AUS) DANIEL SANDERS | RED BULL GASGAS FACTORY RACING | 36H 55′ 14” | + 00H 38′ 43” | ||
| 8 | 1 | (ARG) LUCIANO BENAVIDES | HUSQVARNA FACTORY RACING | 36H 56′ 06” | + 00H 39′ 35” | 00H 15′ 00” | |
| 9 | 142 | (SVK) STEFAN SVITKO | SLOVNAFT RALLY TEAM | 37H 28′ 24” | + 01H 11′ 53” | ||
| 10 | 23 | (CZE) MARTIN MICHEK | ORION – MOTO RACING GROUP | 38H 13′ 24” | + 01H 56′ 53” | 00H 01′ 00” |
