AL HENAKIYAH, Saudi Arabia — Skyler Howes has a flair for showmanship and not just when curling his moustache and donning a cowboy hat.
Since his debut on the Dakar, he has always been in the spotlight but has kept his fans waiting for a long time before winning his first special on his eighth participation to become the ninth American biker to win a stage.
The route to Al Henakiyah lent itself perfectly to a show of force from the Californian, who is used to success on the Vegas to Reno race or the Sonory Rally, which both boast similar terrain. His charge through stage 11 will not enable him to improve on his best final result (3rd in 2023) but he is still set to finish the rally at the foot of the podium.
The Honda clan has cooked up a strategy to try to secure Ricky Brabec a third outright triumph on the Dakar… starting with giving up his place at the top of the overall rankings.
Adrien Van Beveren took advantage of his position as stage opener to wait for his American teammate after refuelling in order to share the openers’ bonus points with him. However, Brabec’s maneuvering became more subtle, even daring, toward the end of the stage, as he chose to ease off in order to secure a starting position for tomorrow behind his main rival Luciano Benavides, even if it meant relinquishing the lead. The Americans definitely like to play poker with the rally but it cannot be denied that it provides plenty of suspense.
As for KTM, the Argentinean new rally leader now indeed finds himself with a poisoned chalice. The pressure is mounting on Luciano Benavides, who now leads the overall rankings by just 23’’ and will be forced to start tomorrow’s decisive stage with Brabec hot on his heels due to a starting position 6 minutes afterwards.
While the news is reassuring concerning Daniel Sanders, who was able to finish the stage despite injuring his shoulder yesterday, the Australian only managed to achieve the 13th best time of the day and will be unable to provide any support to Benavides tomorrow. This role could fall to Edgar Canet, who, due to his third-place finish today, will start the special 3 minutes ahead of him.
