Dakar news: Benavides wins Stage 8 as Brabec creeps ahead

Red Bull KTM’s Kevin Benavides has won Stage 8 of the 2024 Dakar Rally while Ricky Brabec extended his overall Bikes lead, albeit to just 42 seconds.

Kevin Benavides (ARG) of Red Bull KTM Factory Team races during stage 08 of Rally Dakar 2024 from Al Duwadimi to Hail, Saudi Arabia on January 15, 2024 // Marcelo Maragni / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202401150166 // Usage for editorial use only // — Kevin Benavides won Dakar 2024 Stage 8. Image: Marcelo Maragni/Red Bull Content Pool

Benavides’ stage victory was his and KTM’s second of the event, this time by a 31-second margin over brother Luciano of sister team Husqvarna Factory Racing.

On the other factory KTM entry, Toby Price was fifth on the day and retains sixth overall, at a reduced 29:10s deficit relative to Brabec.

The latter set the seventh-fastest time of the Al Duwadimi-Ha’il stage on his Monster Energy Honda but beat his nearest rival for the Dakar 2024 crown, Hero Motorsports’ Ross Branch, by 41 seconds.

Still, that was a let-off for Branch given how Brabec had started the special.

From fifth in the road order, the American set the pace through the sand and dunes which made up most of the first 165km.

After a 179km transfer section it did not take long for team-mate Adrien Van Beveren to hit the front with just over 50km to go, as the route moved into dirt tracks.

The Benavides brothers swooped in the closing stages of the 458km special, to consolidate fifth and eighth respectively in the general classification.

Van Beveren finished third on the day, from team-mate Jose Ignacio Cornejo Florimo, who is now just 4:21s from the overall lead.

Price finished 2:18s off the pace and fellow Australian Daniel Sanders was ninth on his Red Bull GasGas at 5:10s from top spot, meaning he stayed seventh overall but has drifted further to 38:43s from the lead.

Stage 9 runs from Ha’il to AlUla, including a 417km special.

General classification: Bikes Top 10

Pos	Num	Nat	Rider	Team	Time	Gap
1	9	USA	RICKY BRABEC	MONSTER ENERGY HONDA TEAM	36H 16′ 31”
2	46	BOT	ROSS BRANCH	HERO MOTOSPORTS TEAM RALLY	36H 17′ 13”	+ 00H 00′ 42”
3	11	CHI	JOSE IGNACIO CORNEJO FLORIMO	MONSTER ENERGY HONDA TEAM	36H 20′ 52”	+ 00H 04′ 21”
4	42	FRA	ADRIEN VAN BEVEREN	MONSTER ENERGY HONDA TEAM	36H 28′ 29”	+ 00H 11′ 58”
5	47	ARG	KEVIN BENAVIDES	RED BULL KTM FACTORY RACING	36H 37′ 02”	+ 00H 20′ 31”
6	2	AUS	TOBY PRICE	RED BULL KTM FACTORY RACING	36H 45′ 41”	+ 00H 29′ 10”
7	5	AUS	DANIEL SANDERS	RED BULL GASGAS FACTORY RACING	36H 55′ 14”	+ 00H 38′ 43”
8	1	ARG	LUCIANO BENAVIDES	HUSQVARNA FACTORY RACING	36H 56′ 06”	+ 00H 39′ 35”
9	142	SVK	STEFAN SVITKO	SLOVNAFT RALLY TEAM	37H 28′ 24”	+ 01H 11′ 53”
10	23	CZE	MARTIN MICHEK	ORION – MOTO RACING GROUP	38H 13′ 24”	+ 01H 56′ 53”