DAKAR 2020

Honda dreams of reaching glory after a week of elimination

Dakar riders are enjoying a well-deserved rest in Riyadh, knowing that they will have another six days ahead of them if they want to reach the goal of the first edition in Saudi territory of the world's most popular raid.
The first part of it has been of authentic elimination among the favorites, mainly motivated by two factors: the route and the rhythm. If someone thought that with the change of continent they would return to the African essence where navigation was well above the gas fist, they were wrong.
The sprinters arrived at the Dakar and have stayed, according to the speed with which they are covering the stages of a test that is wreaking havoc, with numerous dropouts among pilots who arrived in Saudi Arabia with victory options such as Sam Sunderland, Adrien Van Beveren and Xavier de Soultrait, from outsiders such as Daniel Nosiglia Jager or Johnny Aubert; while other great names that without leaving abandon drag several hours lost, such as Kevin Benavides or Paulo Gonçalves.

RICKY BRABEC AND HONDA, FAVORITES
If there is a brand that is doing well, it is Honda, and above all, the American Ricky Brabec. Two stage victories, a second place and two other top 5 have led him to lead the overall classification, adding enormous solvency to his more than proven speed. More than twenty minutes of rent in front of the table place him as a great favorite to the final triumph, not forgetting that there are many kilometers ahead.
It is the fifth Dakar of the Honda rider, who could only finish in his debut year, when he finished in the ninth final position. Since then, stage victories and early dropouts. It is still fresh in the mind what happened last 2019, when after having won three stages he emerged as a leader to the second to last stage ... when at kilometer 56 of it the engine of his Honda CRF450 said enough.


Ricky Brabec, Monster Energy Honda-Dakar 2020

Forgotten that disappointment, which he described as the hardest moment of his life, he arrived very motivated to this 2020 after seeing serious options for the final triumph a year ago: “Being able to impose myself in the classification showed me that I could win and I know that soon I will do it” , said the Californian before starting the test. “My goal in this Dakar is to win. I expect nothing less, ”said the pilot of the Monster Energy Honda.
Ahead there are still six stages, which in the Dakar amount to six worlds. Thousands of obstacles where everything can be twisted in thousandths of a second. But on the rest day, thanks to him Honda has renewed the license to dream of winning the Dakar again 31 years after the triumph of Gilles Lalay in 1989, which would allow the brand to match BMW's six wins at the Dakar.


Joan Barreda is going from less to more.

JOAN BARREDA, RESISTING
One more year the Spanish hope is being Joan Barreda, for whom the best news is that it reaches the rest stage in general. Away from Brabec, yes (almost 33 minutes), but just over seven minutes from the podium, which has not yet set foot.
It is a difficult Dakar for ‘Bang Bang’, which until the sixth stage has not found a comfortable terrain and that runs with a cracked rib since the fall in the fourth stage, which made it waste a lot of time. Since then he has dedicated himself to resist and, although he has not yet managed to release his locker of victories in Saudi Arabia, he is slowly regaining sensations and speed.
In addition, and although it may be paradoxical, the engine break suffered in the sixth stage by his partner Kevin Benavides has been a relief for the personal interests of the Spanish. The reason is very simple: until then, Barreda was the fourth driver of the team in general (and last after the abandonment of the South African Aaron Mare), so there was a real risk that his team asked him to backpacker for any of his companions, work of which Benavides will now be in charge, already without any option in general.
Honda has two extra options in case something happened to Brabec, since in addition to Barreda, which occupies the fifth position in the general (the same one that ended in 2017, its best final result); is the Chilean Nacho Cornejo, which year after year continues to grow and that after being eighth last year, in 2020 he has already released his record of stage victories in the test and faces the second part of it located in the fourth place just two seconds from the podium.



QUINTANILLA AND KTM, THE ALTERNATIVES
Beyond Brabec, if there is a pilot who is standing up in the personified regularity is the Chilean Pablo Quintanilla(image above), who is making Husqvarna a year more to dream of premiering in the Dakar four years after putting the brand for the first time in the He took the test with his third position in 2016. He has been left alone in the mission since Andrew Short has more than an hour and a half lost, so he could throw a cable at the time.
In fact, right now, the second Husqvarna is the private one of the American Skyler Howes, who runs with Kymciw Racing and is running eighth overall, just behind the drivers who fight for the podium but quite different in time.
Quintanilla is not making too much noise and has not won any stage (he stayed a minute in the fifth), but has not failed clearly in any day and that has been making him climb positions until being second to 20 minutes from Brabec. It seems a lot of disadvantage but it is the first in case the American fails.
And what about KTM. Well, there are two readings, but the conclusion is clear: things have not gone well during the first part of the Dakar and still have three drivers with podium and even victory options, which gives an idea of ​​the magnitude of the Austrian brand and its potential when it comes to the Dakar.
Among them, the main protagonist is the current winner Toby Price, who has been giving some of lime and others of sand, with two stage victories and a couple of days leaving more time than recommended, but at the same time being saved by little Major losses: first with the cancellation of the final leg of the third stage and then thanks to the help of Andrew Short, who gave him his wheel at the end of the sixth stage after an accident that cost him eight minutes but that could have been many more if not for the American of Husqvarna.



And if Price is third after many comings and goings, the sixth and seventh positions are taken by his companions Matthias Walkner and Luciano Benavides, who are not giving much to talk about but who remain on the prowl so that, in a Dakar they are being Complicating - especially with the abandonment of Sam Sunderland -, they still have three real options to keep active their impressive winning streak in the event.
We must also highlight the victory of Ross Branch in the second stage. The best rookie of last year gave Botswana his first stage win at the Dakar, although he later had difficulties.
Right now the best private KTMs are those of veteran Stefan Svitko and those of Jaume Betriu and Martin Michek, who are playing the best rookie of the year. Where he does lead a KTM is in Original by Romanian veteran Emanuel Gyenes.

YAMAHA, SHERCO AND GASGAS, FOR THE TOP 10
Bad luck has been primed with Yamaha with the abandonments of Adrien Van Beveren and Xavier De Soultrait, which has practically reduced the options of the brand to the Argentine Franco Caimi, who now closes a top ten that does not go far too private Rodney Faggotter
At the gates of the top ten is the Frenchman Adrien Metge, a great option for Sherco TVS after the problems in the sixth stage of Lorenzo Santolino, who is 14th but now more than an hour from his partner. That was a stage to forget for the brand, since it resulted in the abandonment of Johnny Aubert.
Another brand that dreams of the top 10 is GasGas from Laia Sanz. The Spanish pilot, who suffered a fall that wasted a lot of time while carrying the broken roadbook and also damaged her hip, has gradually let the stages pass until the sensations are recovered, rolling below her usual pace but maintaining its stability intact, gaining positions day by day until getting into the 18th position.
It goes without saying that Sanz rules the women's category decisively, with almost seven hours of advantage over the Dutch Mirjam Pol, who has only 50 minutes to South African rookie Taye Perry, with also debutante Kirsten Landman less than half an hour of his countryman. Sara García, the only woman in the Original category, is fifth.
The worst luck brand is Hero, with three of its four drivers losing their options due to technical problems: Joaquim Rodrigues in the first, Paulo Gonçalves in the third and Sebastian Bühler in the sixth. Gonçalves is still in competition but with eight hours lost, the best Hero in the general being that of the Indian Santosh CS, who is 36º.

ALL THE SPANISH PEOPLE
14 of the 15 Spaniards are still in the race (all but Julián García Merino), although Daniel Albero is no longer in competition and runs in the Dakar Experience formula so that drivers who have not finished a stage are reengaged.
Although Joan Barreda is the only Spanish in the top 10 and with real options to the podium or even the victory, in the top 20 there are a total of five Spanish drivers when no other country has more than two. Next to the Castellón are the aforementioned Jaume Betriu, Lorenzo Santolino and Laia Sanz, who also joins veteran Joan Pedrero despite dragging a penalty of 40 minutes. Any of the four could get into the top 10 if they get a good second half of Dakar.


Jaume Betriu leads the rookies classification.

At the end of the top 30 appears Fausto Mota, who is showing very solid day after day, with Josep María Mas and the 'Originals' Sara García, Javi Vega and Rachid Al-Lal in the top 100, which is also Nacho Sanchis Rookie Eduardo Iglesias and Javier Álvarez.

GENERAL DAKAR 2020 (TRAS ETAPA 6)
P	Piloto	País	Moto	Tiempo
1	Ricky BRABEC	EEUU	Honda	23h43'47''
2	Pablo QUINTANILLA	Chile	Husqvarna	20'56''
3	Toby PRICE	Australia	KTM	25'39''
4	José Ignacio CORNEJO	Chile	Honda	25'41''
5	Joan BARREDA	España	Honda	32'58''
6	Matthias WALKNER	Austria	KTM	33'39''
7	Luciano BENAVIDES	Argentina	KTM	39'02''
8	Skyler HOWES	EEUU	Husqvarna	1h04'50''
9	Stefan SVITKO	Eslovaquia	KTM	1h07'49''
10	Franco CAIMI	Argentina	Yamaha	1h10'24''

by Nacho González, Spain