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.
Stage Round DAK19 , Stage 5 Dakar 2019
Results Stage 5
Pos. Rider Num Nation Team Constructor Time/Gap
1 SUNDERLAND Sam 14 GBR Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team KTM 04:11’48
2 DE SOULTRAIT Xavier 18 FRA Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team Yamaha +03’23
3 WALKNER Matthias 1 AUT Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team KTM +03’32
4 SANTOLINO Lorenzo 63 SPA Sherco TVS Rally Factory Sherco +04’00
5 VAN BEVEREN Adrien 4 FRA Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team Yamaha +04’26
6 SHORT Andrew 29 USA Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing Husqvarna +04’36
7 BENAVIDES Luciano 77 ARG Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team KTM +04’36
8 SVITKO Stefan 11 SLO Slovnaft Team KTM +05’05
9 PRICE Toby 3 AUS Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team KTM +05’45
10 HOWES Skyler 73 USA Klymciw Racing Husqvarna +06’00
11 BENAVIDES Kevin 47 ARG Monster Energy Honda Team Honda +06’46
12 BRABEC Ricky 15 USA Monster Energy Honda Team Honda +06’46
17 CORNEJO José Ignacio 10 CHI Monster Energy Honda Team Honda +13’10
Stage Round DAK19 , Stage 5 Dakar 2019
Provisional Standings after Stage 5
Pos. Rider Num Nation Team Constructor Time/Gap
1 BRABEC Ricky 15 USA Monster Energy Honda Team Honda 16:51’34
2 SUNDERLAND Sam 14 GBR Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team KTM +00’59
3 QUINTANILLA Pablo 6 CHI Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing Husqvarna +02’52
4 PRICE Toby 3 AUS Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team KTM +03’21
5 WALKNER Matthias 1 AUT Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team KTM +06’17
6 VAN BEVEREN Adrien 4 FRA Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team Yamaha +06’36
7 BENAVIDES Kevin 47 ARG Monster Energy Honda Team Honda +09’01
8 DE SOULTRAIT Xavier 18 FRA Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team Yamaha +18’37
9 SVITKO Stefan 11 SLO Slovnaft Team KTM +26’28
10 SHORT Andrew 29 USA Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing Husqvarna +27’54
14 CORNEJO José Ignacio 10 CHI Monster Energy Honda Team Honda +01:02’44