Ricky Brabec took an enormous step towards successful his second Dakar Rally as we speak. He completed in second place, 32 seconds behind Ross Branch, his chief rival for the general victory tomorrow. He opened the path all day, which often places a rider in danger for navigation errors and big time losses, significantly on an extended, tough stage reminiscent of as we speak’s. Brabec stayed on monitor, although, and captured 5 min 45 secs in time bonuses. Overall, the hole between Brabec and Branch stays at over 10 minutes. Adrian Van Beveren is in third, some 14 minutes behind. Brabec will begin behind Branch on the ultimate stage tomorrow, permitting the American rider to comply with slightly than lead.
Stage 11 was a 420 km lengthy stretch by canyons and dry rivers, taking the opponents from AlUla to the ultimate bivouac in Yanbu. The terrain was principally rugged, with rocks and stones lining up your complete size of the particular. On the ultimate day of Dakar 2024, the race will take the opponents on a shorter 175 km lengthy particular, devoid of main difficulties.
Ross Branch: “It was a really cool stage today. I had a lot of fun right from the start until the finish. I really enjoyed myself out there – the bike was going amazing, and I made no mistakes today – which is quite important to stay calm in the race. The leader of the race has a significant lead over me, but I’m really happy with where I am at the moment, and I’m looking forward to the last day tomorrow.”
Ricky Brabec: “It’s close. I opened the whole day by myself and I was expecting my team-mate Nacho to catch me, but unfortunately he had a little issue. Then I was waiting for my team-mate Adrien for him to grab some bonus time. I know Ross is pushing hard today and I don’t know what the results are so far from the stage, but I have a feeling that it’s going to be me, Adrien and Ross as the top 3 tomorrow. We’ll see what happens, but there’s still one stage to go. I would say it was my best ride of the rally. On the last 100 km, I went really slowly just to get here and wait for my team-mate, but I made no mistakes today. I put my head down and I got to the finish. The first goal on the Dakar is always to make it to the rest day. Obviously, you have to make it day by day, so the first goal is essentially to make it day by day, but after you make it through the first day, you say I want to make it through the second day and then you want to make it to the rest day. Once you make it to the rest day your next goal is to make it to the finish. If you finish the Dakar, that’s a win. It’s gnarly, the Dakar’s not easy, especially for the bikes because we’re up at three in the morning and we’re riding all morning, we’re riding all day and we’re getting back to the bivouac late. But finishing the Dakar is a win in my book and if you can win the Dakar it’s legendary. We’ll go back to the bivouac, we’ll talk to the team and we’ll push on for tomorrow.”
Jacob Argubright: “Stage 11 was a fun one with lots of rocks and tough terrain. Pretty smooth day finishing P14 but with another penalty putting me back to P21. Guess it’s year of the penalty and mishaps for me but all great learning experiences. I’m healthy and ready for the final stage tomorrow!”
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Provisional Rankings – Stage 11
1. Ross Branch, Hero MotoSports Team Rally, 04h 51m 57s
2. Ricky Brabec, Monster Energy Honda Team, + 0m 32s
3. Adrien Van Beveren, Monster Energy Honda Team, + 3m 17s
4. Luciano Benavides, Husqvarna Factory Racing, + 4m 38s
5. Toby Price, RedBull KTM Factory Racing, + 6m 31s
21. Jacob Argubright, DUUST Rally Team + 00H 34′ 14”
70. Kyle McCoy, American Rally Originals + 02H 38′ 14″
101 . Weston Carr, HT Husqvarna + 03H 41′ 41”
Provisional Overall Rankings – on the finish of Stage 11
1. Ricky Brabec, Monster Energy Honda Team, 49h 37m 57s
2. Ross Branch, Hero MotoSports Team Rally, + 10m 22s
3. Adrien Van Beveren, Monster Energy Honda Team, + 14m 31s
4. Ignacio Cornejo, Monster Energy Honda Team, + 38m 44s
5. Kevin Benavides, RedBull KTM Factory Racing, + 41m 19s
65. Kyle McCoy, American Rally Originals + 25H 52′ 54”’
76. Weston Carr, HT Husqvarna + 29H 34′ 53”
90. Jacob Argubright DUUST rally Team+ 54H 18′ 22”