Sainz and Brabec on the edge of Dakar glory
Carlos Sainz Senior and Ricky Brabec are within touching distance of glory at the 2024 Dakar Rally after strengthening their leads in the penultimate stage.
The rocky 420km journey from Al-Ula to Yanbu towards the Red Sea proved to be possibly a deciding stage as the leaders made statements.
The rally appears to be all wrapped up in the cars after Sainz’s main rival Sebastien Loeb lost a massive amount of time.
Having cut the deficit to 14 minutes in stage 10, Loeb suffered a broken front right A-arm on his Prodrive Hunter after a heavy landing.
As a result Loeb was stranded without immediate mechanical support and lost well over an hour and dropped from second to third in the overall standings.
Sainz now enjoys a comfortable 1h27m06s lead over Guilliaume De Mevius heading into the final stage with Loeb a further 10 minutes adrift.
It is a much closer fight for the Dakar bikes win with only 10 minutes and 22 seconds between leader Brabec and nearest rival Ross Branch.
Branch did his best to make a late move by winning the stage, but his Honda rival also put in a mighty ride to finish second and restrict the damage to just a meagre 32s.
Toby Price riding through the gravel during Stage 11 of the Dakar 2024. Image: Eric Vargiolu / DPPI / Red Bull Content Pool
Although Brabec still needs to perform on his Honda in the final stage, the runner-up result is a major moment in his campaign.
Australian Toby Price is on track for a top six finish after making a big move in the penultimate stage.
Price was fifth fastest after 4h58m28s of riding his KTM through the rocks and the result reconsolidated his grip on sixth place overall.
He is currently 5m40s behind Kevin Benavides and 7m49s ahead of Luciano Benavides.
Reflecting on the Dakar Rally with one stage to go, Price admits he will have some “homework to do” over the next 12 months.
“We have some homework to do as the results show. That is what it is,” he said.
“We definitely did not bring the best of what we could have. You cannot be on top all the time and the Honda and Hero guys have put in massive efforts.
“It is always a big fight and if we can regroup to come back bigger and stronger next year that is the plan.”
GasGas Australian Daniel Sanders was simply glad to make it to the finish line in one piece.
Despite his “body starting to fall apart” Sanders finished eighth fastest, 12 minutes away from stage winner Branch.
“Chucky” appears safe in eighth place being just over 12 minutes behind Luciano Benavides and 42 minutes ahead of Stefan Svitko.
Sanders admitted it is even tough to stay on the throttle.
“The body is slowly starting to fall apart. Everyday we get into the stones it is just instant pain,” he said.
Daniel Sanders battling through the penultimate stage of the 2024 Dakar Rally. Image: Marcelo Maragni / Red Bull Content Pool
“I could barely hold onto the throttle for the last 50km and I made a few mistakes towards the end.
“Just losing focus, worrying about my body instead of navigating and not making the correct calls.
“I lost a little bit of extra time but we made it to the finish and there is only one day to go.”
Aussie T3 combo Glenn Brinkman and Dale Moscatt managed to enjoy a mainly trouble free day.
They finished 23rd in the stage and sit 26th in class overall.
However, Brinkman revealed it was not a completely smooth ride through the harsh conditions thrown up by the penultimate Dakar stage.
“It started out really good but then we got to about 120km and the rocks were just ridiculous,” he said.
“There was noise in the back and it just got worse and worse until it sounded like the whole rear was going to disintegrate.
“We went on for another 20km and then we saw all the oil come out.
“Once we knew everything was in place we jumped back in and still took it pretty easy because it was just all rocky riverbeds.
“As soon as we got out of that we picked up the pace and had a pretty good one.
“The concentration required for today was relentless and I was happy to get through it.”
The final stage of the 2024 Dakar Rally is a 172km sprint on the edge of the Red Sea that loops around Yanbu.
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