Following his third place on day four, Matthias Walkner had the opportunity to try and chase down the two riders starting ahead of him on today’s stage. At the first checkpoint, despite a small crash, Walkner was holding on to third position. By increasing his pace and not making any mistakes, the Salzburg-based rider managed to go one better and finish runner-up at the finish. This result narrows the margin at the top of the provisional standings with Walkner, placed third, now only one-minute and 14 seconds from the lead.

Matthias Walkner: “That was such an exhausting day. They said the rally this year was going to be one of the toughest ever and it’s certainly the hardest Dakar so far for me. After starting third I tried my best to chase down the guys in front – it’s always a gamble between navigating yourself and choosing your own path or just following the tracks in front and taking a bit of a risk. Today I really tried to push, but kept an eye on the road book and thankfully it all worked out ok. After five days riding, I am starting to feel a little sore. I had a little crash today too and hurt myself a little so that didn’t help.

“There is still a long way to go on the rally and so far, things are going well. My bike has been perfect and my pace is certainly good enough. I just need to stay focused and hopefully Bolivia and Argentina will be good for us, too. There is only about a minute separating the top-three so it’s still very close.”

Antoine Meo enjoyed his best result of the event today, finishing in a strong fourth place and less than a minute from third. Contesting only his second Dakar Rally, today’s result moves Meo up to seventh in the provisional overall standings, one place behind team-mate Toby Price.

Antoine Meo: “I had a really good day today. My pace was really quick and I was able to catch Toby near the beginning of the stage. We rode together for quite a while, so that helped a lot. We did miss one waypoint near the finish and had to turn back, but we only lost a couple of minutes. It’s my best finish of the rally so far and I have moved up to seventh overall so I am really happy.”

Toby Price continued his consistent pace, placing seventh in today’s stage. The Australian retains his sixth place in the provisional overall standings, just over 10 minutes behind the leader.

Toby Price: “It was all-good today, I got through the stage without too many difficulties. There was one waypoint that was tricky to find, but for most of the race I was riding side-by-side with Antoine and that was really good fun. All-in-all I’m happy with how things are going and I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

Alex Doringer – KTM Rally Team Manager: “It was a difficult stage today for all of the riders. As often happens in terrain like this a couple of the riders suffered crashes, namely Toby and Matthias, but both of them are fine and were able to continue. We are really happy with how the riders performed today, the positions are very good and everyone got back safely – Antoine rode especially well today to fourth place. The best news is Sam (Sunderland) has been given the all-clear from the hospital and will hopefully be released either tonight or tomorrow morning. He will then be ready to fly home to Europe.”

KTM Factory Racing riders, Laia Sanz and Luciano Benavides both put in good performances in their last full stage in Peru. It was the Spaniard, Sanz who got the better of her Argentinian team-mate today by posting the 14th fastest time.

Laia Sanz: “I had a good day today. It was tough and we spent a long-time riding, but I think overall, my rhythm was better than yesterday. I got through the stage without making any mistakes and I’m happy with my pace.”

Benavides had a small issue before the second waypoint, which dropped him down to 40th. But the young Dakar rookie clawed his way back to 24th place at the end of the stage.

Luciano Benavides: “Today was a tough day for me. I lost maybe 20 mins due to a technical issue with the bike. Andrew Short stopped to help and together we got it fixed, so I want to thank him for that. After that things went ok, it’s just frustrating to lose that time. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day for me.”

Riders will leave the sand dunes of Peru on Thursday’s stage six of the Dakar Rally 2018 and head into Bolivia. From Arequipa it’s straight into the mountains for a 313km timed special as the competitors climb to over 2,500m above sea-level. The route is expected to be faster on more solid terrain, but the riders will feel the altitude and take time to acclimatise to the lack of oxygen. Good navigation and stamina will be key to getting a solid result.

Provisional Results Stage Five – 2018 Dakar Rally

1. Joan Barreda (ESP), Honda, 3:19:42
2. Matthias Walkner (AUT), KTM, 3:30:08 +10:26
3. Kevin Benavides (ARG), Honda, 3:32:02 +12:20
4. Antoine Meo (FRA), KTM, 3:32:42 +13:00
5. Adrien van Beveren (FRA), Yamaha, 3:34:17 +14:35
Other KTM
7. Toby Price (AUT), KTM, 3:34:42 +15:00
8. Gerard Farres (ESP), KTM, 3:36:36 +16:54
14. Laia Sanz (ESP), KTM, 3:47:11 +27:29
24. Luciano Benavides (ARG), KTM, 3:56:06 +36:24

Provisional Standings after Stage Five – 2018 Dakar Rally

1. Adrien van Beveren (FRA), Yamaha, 14:37:40
2. Kevin Benavides (ARG), Honda, 14:38:40 +1:00
3. Matthias Walkner (AUT), KTM, 14:38:54 +1:14
4. Joan Barreda (ESP), Honda, 14:45:13 +7:33
5. Xavier de Soultrait (FRA), Yamaha, 14:45:22 +7:42
Other KTM
6. Toby Price (AUT), KTM, 14:48:19 +10:39
7. Antoine Meo (FRA), KTM, 14:49:52 +12:12
8. Gerard Farres (ESP), KTM, 14:53:04 +15:24
16. Luciano Benavides (ARG), KTM, 15:31:31 +53:51
18. Laia Sanz (ESP), KTM, 15:35:30 +57:50