Brabec, Sainz extend leads as tragedy overshadows Dakar

Ricky Brabec and Carlos Sainz Senior have extended their leads in the bikes and cars respectively on a tragic day at the 2024 Dakar Rally.

Competitors completed a 678km stage on Monday, but all events were overshadowed by the tragic passing of rider Carles Falcon.

Falcon had suffered a serious crash on the second stage of the event earlier this month and suffered a cerebral oedema, fracture of the C2 vertebra, five ribs, left wrist and collarbone.

After being resuscitated, he was admitted to the Riyadh Hospital Intensive Care Unit where he was kept in an induced coma as doctors performed tests.

But sadly Falcon’s TwinTrail Racing Team confirmed the horrible news of his passing on Monday, January 15.

“This Monday, January 15, Carles has left us,” read the team’s statement.

“The medical team has confirmed neurological damage caused by cardiorespiratory arrest at the time of the accident was irreversible.

“Carles was a smiling person, always active, who passionately enjoyed everything he did, especially motorcycles.

 “He left us doing something that was his dream, racing the Dakar. He was enjoying himself, he was happy on the bike.

“We must remember him for his smile and for the happiness he generated in everyone.

“He was a computer engineer by training, motorcycle instructor and motorcycle travel guide by passion.

“There are many who have learned at his side. He taught with patience, energy and happiness, he made everyone enjoy the bike.

 “This is what he has left us and what we will always keep with us, all of us who have been close to him, family, friends, colleagues and fans.

“From the family and the team, we ask, please, to keep the privacy of the acts of farewell that will take place in the coming days. Thank you for your understanding.”

Toby Price gets some air during stage 8 of Rally Dakar 2024. Image: Marcelo Maragni / Red Bull Content Pool

The rally carried on with Monday hosting stage 8 of the 2024 Dakar Rally where the leaders slightly tightened their grip on their advantages.

After starting the stage with the slender one second lead, Ricky Brabec extended his lead over Ross Branch to 42 seconds.

Despite the change, little still separated the pair on the timesheets as they finished seventh and eighth respectively.

The stage itself was won by Argentine Kevin Benavides after three hours, 35 minutes and three seconds of riding.

The KTM factory rider was 31 seconds ahead over Husqvarna brother Luciano Benavides.

The leading Australian was Toby Price, who was fifth fastest despite being only two minutes and 18 seconds off the pace in a competitive stage. He currently sits sixth, just over 29 minutes away from the overall lead.

Price said it was a solid stage where he was thrown contrasting conditions from sand to rocks.

“Was not too bad for us and nothing too crazy. We kept on two wheels,” he said.

“The beginning was full of sand and that was fun t ride in and then the last section was full of stones and rocks.

“We just tried to take it easy through there and stay on the road book.

“It was a much better day with the navigation for me but still lost a little bit of time.” 

Daniel Sanders riding his GasGas through the dunes. Image: Florent Gooden / DPPI / Red Bull Content Pool

Daniel Sanders was only a further three minutes behind Price but slotted in ninth as just five and a half minutes covered the top 10 riders.

The GasGas rider still holds seventh overall right behind his KTM compatriot, but is now only 52 seconds ahead of Luciano Benavides who is in good form.

Despite still finishing in the top 10, Sanders was very disappointed by his ride, going down a wrong track and “struggling all day long”.

“It was a very bad stage done by me,” “Chucky” said.

“I had a bad start and thought the guys did a wrong line up front and then lost the track, losing three minutes straight away which was frustrating.

“I then struggled all day with the body, leg and the bike.”

In T3 Australian duo Glenn Brinkman and Dale Moscatt overcame a 20-minute stoppage to finish 25th in the stage.

Despite the issue, they only lost just over an hour and only dropped from 21st to 23rd in class.

Brinkman said a repair required to fix a belt proved costly after a solid start in the dunes.

“We had a great start to the day,” he said.

“In the dunes we made a lot of good choices in lines and worked really well.

“We got to 110km and had a really steep climb and the belt got well over 120 and let go.

“The belt was a mess so it took 20 minutes to replace so it was a real battle for the rest of the day getting caught in the dust.

“About 15km out I could hear a little bit of a miss in it and then 10km out it was starting to miss like it was out of petrol, so we were swerving from side to side.

“We came back here barely running and lucky it didn’t happen in the middle of a stage otherwise we would be up a creek without a paddle.”

A pair of Audi drivers who have suffered tough rallies so far made a statement by dominating the stage.

Mattias Ekstrom led home teammate Stephane Peterhansel by two minutes and 45 seconds as Audi dominated the stage.

Fellow Audi driver Sainz importantly finished fourth to extend his overall lead to beyond 24 minutes over Sebastien Loeb who could only manage ninth.

A 417km Stage 9 featuring rocky plateaus from Ha’Il to Alula awaits.

2024 Dakar Rally bikes classification

2024 Dakar Rally cars classification

main image by Marcelo Maragni / Red Bull Content Pool

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