Irish Motor Sports News – Silk Way – Benavides in the running for a podium place

Silk Way – Benavides in the running for a podium place

Jul 17, 2019

2019 Cross-Country Rallies Round WORLD2 , Stage 9

The final stage of the Silk Way Rally sees Kevin Benavides, the best positioned of the Monster Energy Honda riders, will be in the battle for the rostrum at the close of the first-ever edition of the rally featuring the motorcycle category.

After the start in Irkutsk and a trek across Mongolia, the Silk Way Rally is heading for its final destination, the Chinese city of Dunhuang. To get there, riders face tomorrow morning’s 255-kilometre final stage which will link the Jiayuguan bivouac with Dunhuang. Today’s route from Alashan to Jiayuguan featured 290.30 kilometres of open track and dunes. The toughest aspects of the day were the searing temperatures which reign over the Gobi desert and the arduous navigation which riders had to endure.

In this penultimate stage, Monster Energy Honda Team’s Chilean rider José Ignacio Cornejo, was the best of the bunch, finishing in a fine fifth position. Kevin Benavides and Joan Barreda, posted sixth and seventh places respectively.

Benavides, after yesterday’s win, was forced to open the track. The Argentinean was making swift progress until he was caught by other riders who arrived back at the Jiayuguan bivouac in a group. Barreda, meanwhile, sought to maintain a fast pace in spite of not feeling very much at ease on the terrain.

Tuesday sees a final 205-kilometre stage over hard ground, but without the dunes, where Kevin Benavides will be looking to whittle down the gap in the Silk Road Rally general standing which separates him from an overall podium place finish in Dunhuang.

Kevin Benavides

STAGE: 5th OVERALL: 4th

Today was a hard day, more than yesterday. There was a lot of navigation and offroad until kilometre 130. Opening the stage was a tough task in the stage with the most navigation of all. I felt good, I liked the terrain and I pushed hard throughout. The others didn’t catch me up until the end of that navigational phase. I let Van Beveren pass in front of me to be able to push hard again after the refuelling. I think it was good for both of us and we ended up happy with each other after having pushed the whole stage. And for tomorrow? Well, let’s go for it. In rally you never know what could occur. Until the final kilometre everything can happen.

Joan Barreda

STAGE: 6th OVERALL: 10th

It was a very physical stage. We had some off-piste with small dunes in which we had to work a lot. I did not feel very comfortable really, but I had quite a good stage. When I left the refuelling I caught Luciano and we lost a bit of time in an area with very difficult navigation, which was a pity. I got ahead and I really pushed in an area with a lot of dangers, but without losing my head. There is one final stage left, where we will have to keep searching for a good finish to the rally by completing all the kilometres and finishing it off with some good sensations.

José Ignacio Cornejo

STAGE: 5th OVERALL: 11th

The stage was hard and physically demanding with dunes and camel grass; in addition, it was very hot. Then, after the refuelling, there were hard and broken tracks. You had to be very attentive to the roadbook because it was dangerous. I am satisfied with the fifth place today, I felt comfortable on the bike and I had no problems. Tomorrow sees the last stage so we will try to continue with these good feelings as we can not fight for anything else.

Results Stage 9

Pos.	Rider	Nation	Team	Time/Gap
1	Short Andrew	USA	Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing	3:52’28
2	Goncalves Paulo	POR	Hero Motorsports Team Rally	+0’43
3	Van Beveren Adrien	FRA	Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team	+1’45
4	Sunderland Sam	GBR	Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team	+4’19
5	Cornejo José Ignacio	CHI	Monster Energy Honda Team	+4’39
6	Benavides Kevin	ARG	Monster Energy Honda Team	+5’09
7	Barreda Joan	SPA	Monster Energy Honda Team	+7’17
8	Benavides Luciano	ARG	KTM Factory Racing Team	+12’18
9	Mena Oriol	SPA	Hero Motorsports Team Rally	+20’51
10	Tomiczek Adam	POL	KTM Orlen Rally Team	+29’16

Rider Standings

Pos.	Rider	Nation	Team	Time/Gap
1	Sunderland Sam	GBR	Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team	23:27’27
2	Short Andrew	USA	Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing	+22’51
3	Van Beveren Adrien	FRA	Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team	+23’42
4	Benavides Kevin	ARG	Monster Energy Honda Team	+26’08
5	Benavides Luciano	ARG	KTM Factory Racing Team	+34’18
6	Mena Oriol	SPA	Hero Motorsports Team Rally	+48’47
7	Sanz Laia	SPA	Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team	+1.42’27
8	Tomiczek Adam	POL	KTM Orlen Rally Team	+1:56’44
9	Giemza Maciej	POL	KTM Orlen Rally Team	+2:51’40
10	Barreda Joan	SPA	Monster Energy Honda Team	+2:56’42
11	Cornejo José Ignacio	CHI	Monster Energy Honda Team	+4:08’19

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