Brabec wins Dakar crown, Benavides pips Price on final stage

Barring some sort of disastrous crash or mechanical failure, Brabec started the day virtually guaranteed to add a second Dakar crown to that which he achieved in 2020, given he had a 10:22s margin over Ross Branch at the top of the general classification.

By the end of the 175km loop around Yanbu, the Monster Energy Honda rider had added another 31 seconds to that margin as he set the seventh-quickest stage time and Branch, the 10th.

Assuming Brabec does indeed reach the finish podium, he has thus won the 2024 Dakar Rally by 10:53s.

Hero Motorsports’ Branch will be classified second all-told and Adrien Van Beveren third on another factory-entered Honda.

Kevin Benavides’ final-day victory moved him up to fourth and Price similarly snuck into fifth in the end, with Jose Ignacio Cornejo Florimo (Monster Energy Honda) dropping to sixth, ahead of Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Luciano Benavides.

Australian Daniel Sanders took eighth overall on his Red Bull GasGas, ahead of Stefan Svitko (Slovnaft KTM) and Martin Michek (Orion KTM).

After the rocky terrain of Stage 11, a relatively short, smooth special awaited for those who had made it to the final day of Dakar 2024.

Kevin Benavides was quickest early on and while Pablo Quintanilla (Monster Energy Honda) nosed in front at Kilometre 70 – when three seconds covered the top three – it was all the Argentine KTM rider thereafter.

Luciano Benavides would have been second by just 14 seconds but for a one-minute penalty, meaning Price inherited the runner-up finish on Stage 12 at exactly a minute behind his KTM team-mate.

Branch has the burden of opening the road and, while he collected bonus time for doing so, it was not enough to ever seriously threaten Brabec.

Round 2 of the World Rally-Raid Championship is the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, on February 25-March 2.

General classification: Bikes Top 10