“Viva Argentina. Es historia”. Ten years ago there wasn’t a single Argentinian rider on the Dakar. A decade later Kevin Benavides became the first South American to win the Dakar in the elite motorcycle category.
Originally from Salta, a staple destination for rally raids in Argentina, the Monster Energy Honda Racing Team rider is part of the new generation of racers who fell in love with rally, after the arrival of the Dakar in South America in 2009.
Alongside Benavides’s success at the 2021 Dakar in Saudi Arabia, the Monster Energy Honda Rally Team scored a historic 1-2; with 2020 Dakar winner Ricky Brabec in P2 – something that hadn’t happened for Honda since 1987 with Cyril Neveu and Edi Orioli.
AL-ULA, Saudi Arabia: Chilean rider Jose Ignacio Cornejo, who had been leading the motorbike section of the Dakar Rally, was forced to drop out after a fall on Wednesday, organisers said.The.
Australian Dakar Rally champion Toby Price has been airlifted to hospital after a horror crash in the race s ninth stage in the Saudi Arabian desert.
The 33-year-old injured his left arm and shoulder, and suffered a broken collarbone on Tuesday in the crash 155km in to the 579km loop around the city of Neom.
The two-time Dakar Rally champion also hit his head, with American competitor Ricky Brabec and British rider Sam Sunderland rushing to his aid.
Price was in the lead before the accident and his Red Bull KTM team later confirmed he would be out for the rest of the event.
Peterhansel on track to win Dakar Rally with 2 stages left
January 13, 2021 GMT
JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (AP) Stephane Peterhansel looks set to win a record-extending eighth Dakar Rally car title after holding off main rival Nasser Al-Attiyah again on the 10th stage in the Saudi Arabia desert on Wednesday.
The 55-year-old Frenchman conceded only 49 seconds to Al-Attiyah and remained 17 minutes ahead overall after the rally left Neom on the Red Sea and headed inland southeast to AlUla towards the finish on Friday in Jeddah.
Peterhansel is the most successful racer in Dakar history with 13 wins, six on a motorbike. To win his first car title since 2017, he recruited co-driver Edouard Boulanger, a navigation expert and former rider, and the two compatriots have hardly made a mistake. They have led for 10 straight days despite only one stage win.
Two-time Dakar champion Toby Price suffers a broken collarbone after crashing on the ninth stage of the off-road race and is airlifted to hospital with a broken collarbone.