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Monster Energy Honda’s Brabec arrives at Dakar rest day overall leader

Jan 12, 2019

  Dakar 2019

2019 Dakar Rally   Round DAK19 , Stage 5

The Dakar Rally today reached the halfway point with the dispute of the fifth stage. The second part of the marathon stage proved to be a particularly tactical affair with riders seeking to secure favourable attacking positions for the coming days. Ricky Brabec still holds the top spot in the general standings and Benavides is well-positioned to tackle the second part of the rally.

American Ricky Brabec arrives at the rest day of the Dakar in Arequipa, as race leader. Today the Monster Energy Honda Team rider handled the stage with intelligence after having taken command at the top of the general rankings yesterday.

The start of this fifth stage commenced after a 161-kilometre link section from the Moquegua camp and featured a mass line start with waves of ten riders starting together. The latter part of the special saw competitors face the dunes of Illo with 65% off-piste before a further 345 kilometres of timed special.

Monster Energy Honda Team riders performed well on a stage whose objective was to secure optimal start positions for the following stage rather than an outright stage win. The rest day arrives tomorrow in Arequipa with Ricky Brabec and Kevin Benavides lying in tenth and eleventh places respectively. Both riders finished just 6’46” seconds behind the winner of the special.

Ricky Brabec holds the first position of the rally, with 16:51’34 and Kevin Benavides is nine minutes behind in the sixth place.

Nacho Cornejo finished in seventeenth place, 13’10 seconds adrift of the leader. The Chilean rider stopped to attend Paulo Gonçalves, who had fallen at the kilometre 155 of the special sustaining a damaged right wrist. Gonçalves, with twelve Dakar participations under his belt, was forced to retire from the race.

Tomorrow in Arequipa, the riders can savour a well-earned day of rest. The action restarts on Sunday with a stage that takes the entourage back to San Juan de Marcona.

José Ignacio Cornejo  10

STAGE: 17th  OVERALL: 14th

Today we had the stage with the mass start. I think it was not the right day to do it as there was a lot of dust, a lot of stones which made it very dangerous. At first we were all quite calm, keeping the distance by the dust until the kilometre 155 where Paulo fell. I stopped and stayed until the helicopter arrived. Then I continued calmly because there was not much dust as many of the riders had passed me. By the time we got to the area of sand and dunes I was able to push a bit harder but I didn’t know who had made up time on me. Now we are waiting to get the time back but I am happy with my pace. I wish a quick recovery to Paulo and now it’s time to recharge our batteries for the five tough stages that we have left.

 José Ignacio Cornejo

Ricky Brabec  15

STAGE: 12th  OVERALL: 1st

Today was the second stage of the marathon. Yesterday went really well. I was really mad. I had to push really hard to make up for lost time so I had to really go for it. Today was more complicated because with a mass line start you can’t really make up time – you can lose it but you can’t make it back. Now we have a rest day so we relax a bit and prepare for the final stages.

 Ricky Brabec

Kevin Benavides  47

STAGE: 11th  OVERALL: 7th

It’s been a good first week for me. I think I’ve done pretty well. The first days I took more calmly but now I have started pushing more. Today I started out on the beach in the first group and until the kilometre 200 I was opening the way so I did not have to eat much dust. Then I sat back to get an advantageous start of the Sunday stage. Now it’s time to think about the strategy for what remains of the Dakar and rest and recharge the batteries.

 Kevin Benavides

Raul Castells

Monster Energy Honda Team Manager

Complicated stage today with a line start on the second leg of the marathon, where unfortunately Paulo suffered an accident and hurt his hand. I want to personally thank the sporting gesture of Sam Sunderland who stopped to assist our rider. Fortunately, Paulo is out of danger. It has been a very good stage of Ricky, Kevin and Nacho, who controlled very well and are in good positions. From here, tomorrow we get to enjoy a rest period that will be good for us to prepare and be able to face the second part of this Dakar with a high level of motivation.

Results Stage 5

Pos. Rider Num Nation Team Time/Gap
1 Sunderland Sam 14 GBR Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team 04:11’48
2 de Soultrait Xavier 18 FRA Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team +03’23
3 Walkner Matthias 1 AUT Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team +03’32
4 Santolino Lorenzo 63 SPA Sherco TVS Rally Factory +04’00
5 Van Beveren Adrien 4 FRA Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team +04’26
6 Short Andrew 29 USA Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing +04’36
7 Benavides Luciano 77 ARG Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team +04’36
8 Svitko Stefan 11 SLO Slovnaft Team +05’05
9 Price Toby 3 AUS Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team +05’45
10 Howes Skyler 73 USA Klymciw Racing +06’00
11 Benavides Kevin 47 ARG Monster Energy Honda Team +06’46
12 Brabec Ricky 15 USA Monster Energy Honda Team +06’46
17 Cornejo José Ignacio 10 CHI Monster Energy Honda Team +13’10

Rider Standings

Provisional Standings after Stage 5

Pos. Rider Num Nation Team Time/Gap
1 Brabec Ricky 15 USA Monster Energy Honda Team 16:51’34
2 Sunderland Sam 14 GBR Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team +00’59
3 Quintanilla Pablo 6 CHI Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing +02’52
4 Price Toby 3 AUS Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team +03’21
5 Walkner Matthias 1 AUT Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team +06’17
6 Van Beveren Adrien 4 FRA Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team +06’36
7 Benavides Kevin 47 ARG Monster Energy Honda Team +09’01
8 de Soultrait Xavier 18 FRA Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team +18’37
9 Svitko Stefan 11 SLO Slovnaft Team +26’28
10 Short Andrew 29 USA Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing +27’54
14 Cornejo José Ignacio 10 CHI Monster Energy Honda Team +01:02’44
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