DAKAR 2020

Nacho Cornejo achieves his first victory and a fall away Joan Barreda

Chilean Nacho Cornejo has won his first victory at the Dakar after a five-minute penalty against Sam Sunderland, who had beaten him in goal for eleven seconds.
The young Honda rider has invested 4 hours, 24 minutes and 51 seconds in the 353 kilometers of the stage that passed between Neom and Al'Ula to overcome his teammate Kevin Benavides, who approaches his other teammate Ricky Brabec, who retains the leadership The party at Honda has not been complete due to the fall of Joan Barreda, who has given up 17 minutes.
As every day the Dakar has cast light and shadow. While the penalty to Sunderland made Cornejo a winner, which opens his Dakarian record in terms of stage victories, the Frenchman Xavier De Soultrait said goodbye for the unbearable pain in his hand after the fall suffered yesterday. The Yamaha has said enough after suffering more than 300 kilometers and its low joins that of his partner and compatriot Adrien Van Beveren, which leaves the Iwata brand without its two best struts.
On the contrary, two pilots who yesterday suffered from the beautiful today have been able to get even and shine. Behind the Honda double signed by Nacho Cornejo and Kevin Benavides are Ross Branch, who yesterday paid the duck to open the track and left more than an hour; and Paulo Gonçalves, who has enjoyed again after giving up more than seven hours for a break in his Hero.
The top 5 has been completed by leader Ricky Brabec just ahead of Toby Price, the only driver outside of Honda who has managed to lead in a waypoint on the stage, since Brabec himself passed the top two, giving way to Price in WP3 with Kevin Benavides commanding in the fourth and fifth before the final triumph of Cornejo.


Xavier De Soultrait (image above) has had to leave The seventh position

The seventh position has been for Frenchman Johnny Aubert ahead of Sam Sunderland, who with the speeding penalty has fallen to eighth place on the stage, whose top ten has been completed by Skyler Howes and Lorenzo Santolino, best Spanish of the day. Franco Caimi, Stefan Svitko and Andrew Short have stayed at the gates.
Without being a day with great differences, some important pilots have given time, such as the eight minutes provided by Pablo Quintanilla, Luciano Benavides 15 and, above all, the 17 that Joan Barreda has left after falling and hurting his ribs and the 24 lost by Matthias Walkner, if any due to navigation errors. Both Spanish and Austrian seriously complicate their options for the final victory.
The Spaniards Jaume Betriu and Joan Pedrero, 16th and 17th in the stage with Laia Sanz in the 26th position, still suffering from hip pain due to the fall she suffered two days ago, have fared better. Fausto Mota also continues to progress, today 32nd on the stage.

HONDA FOLLOWS THE COMMAND
If the Dakar ended today, the party in the official Honda team would be absolute, since after the great third stage, today they have managed to maintain the first three positions of the general classification, which is still led by the American Ricky Brabec, who Kevin Benavides leads in two and a half minutes and Nacho Cornejo in more than eight.
Right now the great threat to the golden wing trio is the brand-new Toby Price winner, who despite the difficulties of yesterday remains twelve minutes from the first, while Pablo Quintanilla does not move too far and is almost 18 minutes, with Sam Sunderland slightly further.
Ya a 25 aparece la cuarta Honda en discordia, que no es otra que la del español Joan Barreda, que baja a la séptima posición seguido de cerca por las otras dos KTM oficiales: Luciano Benavides y Matthias Walkner. Completa el top ten Skyler Howes, que en este 2020 está confirmando que su gran debut en la pasada edición no fue casualidad.
Poco a poco va escalando posiciones Lorenzo Santolino, que se ubica ya en la 14ª plaza de la general, mientras que Joan Pedrero se mantiene dentro del top 20. Ligeramente por detrás aparecen el rookie Jaume Betriu, 23º, e inmediatamente después Laia Sanz, que ha vuelto a meterse dentro del top 25. En la 40ª posición aparece Fausto Mota, con hasta diez españoles en las 100 primeras posiciones de la general provisional.

DAKAR 2020: RESULTADOS ETAPA 4
P	Piloto	País	Moto	Tiempo
1	José Ignacio CORNEJO	Chile	Honda	4h24'51''
2	Kevin BENAVIDES	Argentina	Honda	35''
3	Ross BRANCH	BWA	KTM	55''
4	Paulo GONÇALVES	Portugal	Hero	2'11''
5	Ricky BRABEC	EEUU	Honda	2'48''
6	Toby PRICE	Australia	KTM	2'59''
7	Johnny AUBERT	Francia	Sherco TVS	3'52''
8	Sam SUNDERLAND	Gran Bretaña	KTM	4'49''
9	Skyler HOWES	EEUU	Husqvarna	4'52''
10	Lorenzo SANTOLINO	España	Sherco TVS	6'24'

by Nacho González