2024 Dakar Rally Underway
T
he world's most prestigious
off-road race, the Dakar Rally,
got underway in Saudi Arabia on
Friday, January 5, four days later
than its traditional New Year's
Day date, and it's already been
a race of attrition for the world's
best rally riders.
Prologue Stage winner Toscha
Schareina (Honda) was out on the
very first stage of the rally when he
crashed at the 240km marker, the
young Spaniard breaking his arm
and ending his third Dakar start
before it really began.
He was joined by veteran
Hero rider Joaquim Rodrigues
as a Stage One retiree and later
Rodrigues' teammate Sebastian
Buhler, who crashed out heavily
on Stage Three.
The Dakar has also proved a
heartbreaker for former two-
time race winner and World
Rally Champion Sam Sunderland
(GasGas). The Briton was look
-
ing to end a horror run of luck
that has seen him complete just
10 stages of the last four rallies
(Sonora Rally, the Desafio Ruta
40, the Rallye du Maroc and now
the 2024 Dakar), but his factory
GasGas had other ideas, grind
-
ing itself to a halt on Stage Three
at the 11km marker and putting
him out of the race.
It's been a far better rally for
Ross Branch on the factory Hero
entry. The Botswanan commer-
cial pilot triumphed on Stage One
by a handy 10:54 over Californian
Ricky Brabec (Honda), and de-
spite finishing 11th on Stage Two,
has kept his lead after a solid ride
to fifth on Stage Three.
"It was, in fact, a really weird
stage for me," Branch said after
Stage Three. "In the morning I
was doing very well, but then
ended up making some naviga
-
tional errors and lost time with
a particular waypoint. I'm happy,
however, to be here in one piece.
I hope my teammate Sebas
-
WIND
IN THE
P40
Ross Branch has so far
kept his powder dry to
lead the Dakar Rally
after three stages.
PHOTOS: KTM PRESS, HRC,
DAKAR PRESS
