On the American front, rid-
ers Ricky Brabec and Andrew
Short seem to be gaining steam.
Brabec finished the first mara-
thon stage of the rally with his
best ride yet, carding second on
the day in stage 8. Brabec took
well to the terrain of the Bolivian
Altiplano in what was the longest
special of the 2018 Dakar at 310
miles (500 km).
"The type of stage today was
very similar to the races we
have in California and I felt very
comfortable," said Brabec after
stage 8. "The end of the special
was good, battling with Antoine
Meo. We will continue to fight
over the next five days."
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna
rider Andrew Short has been
taking it all in at his first-ever
Dakar Rally. While he's a little
frustrated to not be at the pointy
end of the field, Shorty has
shown remarkable consistency
and says he's learning a lot.
"These last two days have
been really tough, physically
and mentally, so I'm really happy
we got this first marathon stage
done," Short said. "Yesterday I
had a few small crashes in the
mud and also stopped a few
times to assist other riders. I'm
really fast in the sand sections
and I need to improve my speed
in the faster tracks. Overall,
today I had a good stage."
Monster Energy Honda's
Joan Barreda injured his knee
in a crash on stage 7. He feared
the knee was broken, but when
doctors didn't find any fractures,
he pressed on in stage 8 (opening
the track, no less). He did damage
control with an eighth-place finish,
but was much relieved to hear that
stage 9, slated to take place Mon-
day, January 15, had been can-
celed due to flooding in the area.
The Honda rider is currently
fifth overall, sitting behind the
KTM duo of Matthias Walkner
and Toby Price. Walkner sits
third, a little over six minutes
off the pace of second-place
rider Benavides. Price is another
minute back in fourth, but is an-
other rider who has been gaining
momentum as the races presses
on. The 2016 Dakar Champion
has been steadily is climbing the
ranks, seven minutes and 35
seconds out of the lead.
"It sounds like quite a lot of
time but it's really nothing," Price
said. "It's very easy to lose that in
one day, so overall I'm happy with
how things are going."
Rather extraordinary is the fact
that less than 10 minutes sepa-
rate the top six riders after eight
stages. Competition remains
extremely tight in the 2018 Dakar
Rally, which resumes on Tues-
day, January 16 in Salta with
stage 10. Heavy rains and flood-
ing in the area caused many of
the water crossings in stage 9
to be deemed unsafe, so riders
were liaised to the bivouac in
Salta, Argentina by road on Mon-
day, January 15.
Jean Turner
Standings After Stage 8:
1. Adrien Van Beveren (Yam) 27:22:03
2. Kevin Benavides (Hon) +0:22
3. Matthias Walkner (KTM) +6:34
4. Toby Price (KTM) +7:35
5. Joan Barreda (Hon) +4:45
6. Antoine Meo (KTM) +9:56
7. Stefan Svitko (KTM) +31:55
8. Ricky Brabec (Hon) +31:58
9. Gerard Farres Guell (Yam) +45:52
10. Johnny Aubert (Gas) +1:10:02
23. Andrew Short (Hus) +2:23:31
VOL. 55 ISSUE 2 JANUARY 16, 2018 P37
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
YAMALUBE
YAMAHA
OFFICIAL
RALLY
TEAM
