Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1073388
VOL. 56 ISSUE 3 JANUARY 22, 2019 P43 As for the American contin- gent, Ricky Brabec found himself at the center of attention and controversy. The Monster Energy Honda rider came out swinging in the race, won multiple stages and led the way at the halfway point. Things were looking promising for Brabec after Stage 7—the Southern California native had a 7:47 lead with three days remaining. But it all unraveled the next day in Stage 8's Super Ica special, the longest of the rally. Only 35 miles in to the 224- mile special, Brabec's engine let go, leaving him stranded in the dunes at a near loss for words. ""Perfect dirt—look at this—wet dirt. Perfect conditions to ride all day," Brabec said. "Unfortunately I only made it 57 km. Last year, third day to the end, 52 km into the stage, same problem. "Unreal… The rally was perfect for me. Until today. I lost power to the bike, and… I don't know. I have no words. Dakar bites again." Stage 8 turned out to be the major turning point of the rally, as Yamaha's Adrien Van Beveren (who was running second at the time) also dropped a chunk of time, allowing Price to emerge the overall leader—the first time in the rally KTM held the lead. More misfortune for Van Beveren the next day included a broken en- gine, which ended his race. Bra- bec's teammate Kevin Benavides was penalized with a whopping three-hour penalty for "unsport- ing behavior," effectively eradicat- ing the Japanese brands from podium contention. While KTM enjoyed the ideal podium sweep, with sister-brand Husqvarna round- ing out the top-five (with Quintanilla and American Andrew Short), Honda, very hungry for a Dakar Rally win, ended with a pretty sour taste in their mouths. Top riders Paulo Goncalves, Joan Barreda and Brabec all failed to reach the finish, and their remain- ing top rider was penalized out of the top 10. HRC did not take the defeat quietly, voicing dis- satisfaction for the penalty levied on Benavides, and the penalty reversal for Sunderland. "We are quite unhappy about how the Dakar went, especially in the final part of the race," Mon- ster Energy Honda Team Manag- er Raul Castells said in the team's final Dakar race report. "We will not surrender and next year we will return to fight for victory. Un- fortunately we are quite unhappy with the jury and the organization of the race. Firstly for the penalty that they have imposed on us, which we have appealed against. We are also unhappy with how they have applied the rules to the rest of the participants of the Dakar: it can not be tolerated that one is penalized for something that could be done, and in con- trast to others who have acted deliberately with the intention of doing something that they knew was not right, were not penal- ized. Let's hope that everything is studied and the ways they apply the rules are changed." There are still 11 months to go before the next Dakar Rally, but the stage is already set for another exciting showdown in the world's toughest off-road race. Jean Turner 2019 Dakar Rally Final Results 1. Toby Price (KTM) 33:57:16 2. Matthias Walkner (KTM) +09:13 3. Sam Sunderland (KTM) +13:34 4. Pablo Quintanilla (Hus) +20:46 5. Andrew Short (Hus) +44:10 6. Xavier De Soultrait (Yam) +54:00 7. Jose Ignacio Cornejo (Hon) +01:08:16 8. Luciano Benavides (KTM) +01:09:10 9. Oriol Mena (Her) +02:08:41 10. Daniel Nosiglia (Hon) +02:31:53 11. Laia Sanz (KTM) +03:24:10 12. Kevin Benavides (Hon) +03:41:14 32. Garrett Poucher (Hus) +12:31:26 50. Nathan Rafferty (KTM) +20:47:10 It was a gutting final day for Rockstar Energy Husqvarna's Pablo Quintanilla, who put on a charge for the overall win, but suffered a hard crash and barely made it to the finish line. PHOTOGRAPHY BY HUSQVARNA MOTORCYCELS/MARCIN KIN