Benavides Leads Abu Dhabi
Desert Challenge Rally
A
fter two stages, Red Bull
KTM Factory Racing's Kevin
Benavides leads the Abu Dhabi
Desert Challenge Rally with three
stages left to run.
Race leader after stage one,
Husqvarna rider Michael Do-
cherty suffered a hard fall and
was flown via helicopter to the
hospital.
Benavides was first on the
scene of Docherty's crash and
stayed with the injured rider until
more assistance arrived. The
2021 Dakar Champion, Bena-
vides, continued with the stage,
pushing hard-to-make-up time.
Arriving at the finish, Benavides
was awarded the time lost due
to the incident, which ultimately
placed him third for the stage
and moved the KTM 450 Rally-
mounted rider into the provisional
rally lead.
"Today was a good stage for
me and I'm happy with the final
result," Benavides said. "It was a
tough stage both physically and
mentally, too, because at about
kilometer 50 I stopped to help
Mike after he crashed. I called
the helicopter and waited for just
over 20 minutes before setting
off again. It's always tough to
regain your focus after something
like that, but I was able to keep
up a good pace and complete
the stage safely. It feels good
to be leading the race, so I'll try
and keep this momentum going
tomorrow."
The stage win went to Hero's
Ross Branch, followed by
Husqvarna's Luciano Benavides
(Kevin Benavides' brother) and
IN
THE
WIND
P58
KTM's Kevin Benavides
is the new leader at
the Abu Dhabi Desert
Challenge Rally.
