WADI AD DWASIR, Saudi Arabia — One should never let opportunities get away, as Luciano Benavides knows all too well.
The Argentinian let his flair do the talking in the special, which he started in sixth position, determined to make the most of the favorable terrain to stage a comeback.
Benavides completed the rather fast course of the 459 km special in four hours, romping home with 4′47″ to spare over Edgar Canet and 4′57″ over Adrien Van Beveren, who delivered his finest performance since the start in Yanbu. The KTM rider is still third after his show of strength, but a mere 15 seconds from Ricky Brabec. This was his seventh Dakar stage win. Not bad at all.
The top 3 overall remains the same, with Daniel Sanders perched at the summit, but his third place today will put him at a disadvantage tomorrow compared to his closest pursuer, Ricky Brabec (+4′25″), who will start the next stage in tenth position, 21 minutes after the Australian. The Monster Energy Honda HRC is known for his strategic acumen and could turn the situation to his advantage.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing continue to hold the top spot, but the rally is still wide open despite Tosha Schareina losing some time today as the second rider on the road. The Spaniard hoovered up time bonuses for opening the way but lost time to the leader. He now stands just over 15 minutes back.
The Rally2 rider Michael Docherty continued to crash the RallyGP party and finished fifth overall in the stage to Wadi Ad-Dawasir, as well as picking up his fifth stage win of the season in his class. It is a decent consolation prize after the first marathon stage wrecked his overall prospects.
