Dakar Rally

Dakar 2023 is fast approaching Dammam and you could not have scripted a grandstand finish like this! Three riders within 103 seconds of each other and in ...

It will be quite an exciting finish, with the final 136 km to decide which of these three teams will finish in the top ten. Between himself, father Marek and his uncle Michal, they’ve won seven of the 13 completed stages in this year’s rally. Loeb has won seven stages in total for this year’s rally and is on track to make it eight, if he wins the last stage. Loeb's chances went out the window early in the rally, following a triple puncture on the second stage followed by a rollover during the fifth. On stage 11, Sebastian Loeb won four stages in a row equalling the likes of Carlos Sainz, Ari Vatanen and Jacky Ickx. The Australian-American partnership has worked really well over the last few days and yesterday’s stage result of tenth place helped them claw back almost 24 minutes. Having won the Rally2 class last year on debut, the 21-year-old started strongly in the early stages of this year's rally before dropping back to tenth overall. Benavides lodged a request for time lost to be taken into account, which was granted by race officials and his race time was adjusted, keeping him in the overall mix. The Austrian rider crashed out of the rally in a heavy fall and was taken to hospital for observation of his back. Though he remains 1’31” off the overall lead, the man who led the rally for five days has his work cut out for him. The American assault of Dakar 2023 is now down to one rider for outright glory and that’s Utah’s Skyler Howes. With the added benefit of time bonuses, Price still maintains his lead but the margin for error is very tiny.

As the 2023 Dakar rally enters the final stretch, the wily veterans of the sport are rising to the top. Former winner Kevin Benavides took his first stage.

Luciano Benavides (Husqvarna) 43:30:20 Luciano Benavides (Husqvarna) 2:22:44 Kevin Benavides (KTM) 2:21:47 Pretty stoked on today, best stage finish for me today and it was all dunes it was pretty awesome. I’m looking forward to tomorrow, it’s going to be a short but fast stage with little scope to make up time I think, so the goal is to get my Husqvarna to the finish line in one piece and hopefully in a good position.” He now trails Price by 1:31 going into the final stage.

A dramatic Stage 13 for Kevin Benavides, which saw him help the injured Matthias Walkner before winning, now has him behind Toby Price for the Bike overall ...

“The goal is to keep the second place until the end and to score important points for the championship but now it’s a new record with six victories in a row on the Dakar so I’m very happy,” Loeb stated. Even with the Dakar win out of reach, the stage wins will be of much benefit for Loeb in the W2RC as each win awards five points. Al-Attiyah’s lead over Loeb shrank by six minutes as the latter claimed the T1 win, but it was barely a dent in the big picture as Al-Attiyah is still up 1:21:42. That was a bit of a deciding factor, I really wanted to push and try and get the win, but I want to make sure that I can complete the race as well. Price admitted he “actually had a crash today and made a couple of mistakes, I honestly thought I made a bit of a mess of it all. His brother Luciano had initially won the stage with a time of 2:21:44 but was slapped with a one-minute penalty for speeding, relegating him behind Kevin and Rally2 rider Michael Docherty.

Toby Price and Kevin Benavides lie first and second overall in the provisional standings at the 2023 Dakar Rally after Benavides took victory on the ...

I’m looking forward to tomorrow, it’s going to be a short but fast stage with little scope to make up time I think, so the goal is to get my Husqvarna to the finish line in one piece and hopefully in a good position.” Sunday’s stage 14 – the final of this year’s event – will see riders leave the bivouac in Al Hofuf and head north to Dammam. I’m still in the fight for the win, and I have to be super happy with how this race as gone up to this point. Still well in the hunt for overall victory, Skyler Howes was the sixth rider through the gate this morning and maintained a strong pace to the finish, despite a couple of errors along the way. That was a bit of a deciding factor, I really wanted to push and try and get the win, but I want to make sure that I can complete the race as well. “I was trying to go fast but safe at the same time but that was not easy, due to the many drops in the dunes. I really pushed hard all day, with the goal to still be in the lead going into the final day. “I pushed a lot at the beginning and then I jumped really high in a dune and that was like a joker. Delivering an excellent ride to fifth place on stage 13, despite a small crash and a navigational error, Toby Price retained his lead in the overall standings. To win the stage is amazing, and to be second overall and so close to Toby is even more of a surprise. I pushed hard for the rest of the stage, but it’s tricky to focus after seeing something like that. Although stage 13 was a long one for the riders, coming in at a total of 675 kilometers, the distance raced against the clock was relatively short at 154 kilometers.

Kevin Benavides has beaten KTM team-mate Toby Price to the Dakar 2023 title with victory on the final stage.

Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing Husqvarna Factory Racing Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

Argentinian rider Kevin Benavides won the Dakar Rally motorbike title for a second time as the historic endurance race came to an end on Sunday in Dammam, ...

Argentinian rider Kevin Benavides won the Dakar Rally motorbike title for a second time as the iconic endurance race came to an end on Sunday in Dammam, ...

In the cars category Qatari Nasser Al-Attiyah won his fifth Dakar Rally driver’s title and second in a row. However, he produced a sterling ride to win the stage and post a time 55 seconds faster than his 35-year-old rival, and after more than 44 hours of racing claimed victory. Argentinian rider Kevin Benavides won the Dakar Rally motorbike title for a second time as the iconic endurance race came to an end on Sunday in Dammam, Saudi Arabia.

Toyota driver Nasser Al-Attiyah beats record-breaker Sébastien Loeb after 15 days of action to win the 2023 Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia.

Defending winner and W2RC champion Sam Sunderland crashed out on the opening stage of the rally, fracturing his collarbone. Eryk finished a staggering fourth outright on the penultimate stage to Al-Hofuf. Dragon’s Francisco Moreno Flores was therefore runner-up in the general classification. He won the road-order setting prologue but was penalized 15 minutes after missing a waypoint. The fourth edition of the Dakar Rally to take place in Saudi Arabia was the longest and most challenging event in many years. Covering over 5000km, with 14 stages across 15 days, the 45th running of the Dakar was something of a love letter to classic rally raid. Honda’s 2020 winner Ricky Brabec also crashed out, as did Joan Barreda Bort. By this point, Al-Attiyah’s lead was up to over an hour from TGR team-mate Henk Lategan. The team launched an official protest, which was rejected by the stewards. With Peterhansel also losing time, Al-Attiyah suddenly had a 22-minute advantage. The South African impressed in the opening week but struggled in the dunes, dropping out of the podium places due to a broken damper and a roll. Sainz’s rally eventually came to an end for good on stage nine after misjudging a dune early on in the stage.

Australian Toby Price has come agonisingly close to taking the Dakar Rally motorcycle event in Saudi Arabia. Holding...

It hurts a little bit." Al-Attiyah, the reigning champion for Toyota with co-driver Mathieu Baumel, finished the final 14th stage to Dammam on the Gulf coast with a lead of an hour and 20 minutes over France's nine-times world rally champion Sebastien Loeb. With the starting order for the final stage based on reverse overall classification, Benavides was 89th to set off and Price followed three minutes later in 90th on the road.

Australian Toby Price has come agonisingly close to taking the Dakar Rally motorcycle event in Saudi Arabia. Key points: Price was four minutes and 21 ...

Qatar's Nasser Al-Attiyah won the car crown for the fifth time. It hurts a little bit." - Qatar's Nasser Al-Attiyah won the car crown for the fifth time

Qatari driver Nasser Al-Attiyah on Sunday won his fifth Dakar Rally driver's title and second in a row, with Argentina's Kevin Benavides securing his second ...

"Yeah, hard to take at the moment, but at the end of the day I'm going home in one piece and we got a Dakar trophy," he said. It's the most unreal feeling." Loeb gave it all he could as he won a record six successive stages in the second week. "We didn't have to attack like crazy. "It's crazy to manage to defend my title. I'm very happy to win five times, and Mathieu (his co-driver Mathieu Baumel) four...

Al-Attiyah wins his second title in a row as the test of endurance ends in Dammam, Saudi Arabia.

Loeb gave it all he could as he won a record six successive stages in the second week for the Bahrain Raid Xtreme team. Al-Attiyah’s Toyota teammate Lucas Moraes of Brazil finished third. [Nasser al-Attiyah](/news/2021/1/1/qatari-superman-al-attiyah-ready-to-flex-dakar-muscles-in-saudi) won his fifth Dakar Rally driver’s title and second in a row after the iconic test of endurance finished in Dammam, Saudi Arabia.

Australian Toby Price has come agonisingly close to taking the Dakar Rally motorcycle event in Saudi Arabia.

It hurts a little bit.” Al-Attiyah, the reigning champion for Toyota with co-driver Mathieu Baumel, finished the final 14th stage to Dammam on the Gulf coast with a lead of an hour and 20 minutes over France’s nine-time world rally champion Sebastien Loeb. With the starting order for the final stage based on reverse overall classification, Benavides was 89th to set off and Price followed three minutes later in 90th on the road.

Kevin Benavides has led home Toby Price in the last stage battle of the teammates to secure overall victory in the 2023 Dakar Rally.

After finishing the final stage in second place Sanders completed the 2023 Dakar safely to secure a gritty seventh-place overall result. I arrived at the finish safely, and it feels like a dream come true and such an honour to share it with two legends like Toby (Price) and Kevin (Benavides). “I knew it was going to be tight, and of course, I pushed right from the start all through the stage. It’s been an incredible race with highs and lows, and it’s come right down to the wire on this final day,” Howes reflected. Aiming to chase down Benavides who had set off three minutes ahead of him, the two-time winner got his head down and gave his all right from the start. Taking the win on the thirteenth and penultimate stage yesterday, Kevin Benavides closed down the gap to provisional rally leader Toby Price to just twelve seconds.

Nasser Al-Attiyah won a second straight Dakar Rally just kilometers from his Qatar homeland on Sunday.

[Sebastien Loeb](https://www.france24.com/en/tag/sebastien-loeb/), the nine-time world rally champion chasing his first Dakar success, was second in successive years, more than 80 minutes behind. He won in 2021 and was up front last year until his engine blew on stage 10. Benavides, trailing Price by 12 seconds overall, wiped that out by the first checkpoint.

Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah held his nerve and composure over the final few days to seal a fifth career victory at the Dakar Rally and a fourth for his French ...

They were pushed hard for much of the event by Martin Macík, František Tomášek and David Švanda until the Czech trio lost time stuck in mud on stage nine and had ongoing suspension issues on their MM Technology Iveco Powerstar. De Mevius recovered well to finish third overall with Jones finishing 52min 05sec in front of his team-mates Seth Quintero and Dennis Zenz. Dakar legend Stéphane Peterhansel crashed out of contention before the rest day and Carlos Sainz’s dismal Dakar ended on the ninth stage: the Spaniard crashed into the front of a dune after just six kilometres. Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Dirk von Zitzewitz had been running as high as second overall before stopping to assist Toyota team-mate Lategan when he hit suspension trouble. Mathieu Serradori and Loic Minaudier began the final stage in ninth overall but suffered engine issues after just 10km and were forced to wait for assistance. They now lead Toyota Gazoo Racing by one point with the X-raid Mini JCT Team in third and BAIC ORV in fourth. The stage results mean that Chicherit holds third in the Drivers’ Championship with 49 points. Overdrive Racing’s Juan Cruz Yacopini and Daniel Oliveras climbed from 10th in Riyadh to finish seventh overall in a Toyota Hilux, the feat giving the Japanese manufacturer seven places inside the top 10. Lategan had been running as high as second overall before suspension issues and a roll pushed him down the rankings. Loeb’s second-week surge through the rankings enabled him to displace the Overdrive Racing crew of Brazilian Dakar rookie Lucas Moraes and German co-driver Timo Gottschalk to snatch second overall. The nine-time World Rally Champion won seven of the 14 stages, including a run of six successive wins that shattered Ari Vatanen’s run of five set with the factory Peugeot team back in 1989. Sébastien Loeb’s fightback to finish second overall in a Prodrive Hunter BRX with Belgian co-driver Fabian Lurquin kept him firmly in the hunt to challenge for the W2RC title this season.

Toby Price lost out to Kevin Benavides in the most tightly fought battle in the great race's long history.

However, full credit to Kevin, he rode a crazy solid race and I’m really proud of the entire team effort, this Dakar has been huge” Price said. Two-time winner Price had set out on Sunday’s 14th and final stage in Saudi Arabia just 12 seconds ahead of Benavides. It was the most tightly fought battle the great race has recorded in its 45 editions. “Yeah, hard to take at the moment, but at the end of the day I’m going home in one piece and we got a Dakar trophy.” “That makes me very proud – and it’s incredible to pull off the win at the end of this completely crazy Dakar, and with such a small gap,” he said. Never before had a biker lost the Dakar lead on the last stage and never before had the margin of defeat been so close.