DAKAR 2020

Ricky Brabec wins Joan Barreda and is more leader, Kevin Benavides loses all option

The American Ricky Brabec(image above) is showing himself as a solid leader in the Dakar 2020, and after getting his second stage win - today ahead of Joan Barreda - he has again increased his income at the head of the general, which goes beyond 20 minutes on Pablo Quintanilla, ahead of Toby Price, who was almost ten minutes standing in the last sector after breaking a wheel, until Andrew Short left his.
However, for the fourth consecutive day one of the big favorites has lost all options: it was the Argentine Kevin Benavides, who was fighting for the stage victory (at the last waypoint he was only 25 seconds from Brabec) until 44 kilometers away the goal has broken the engine of his Honda, according to the organization, so he reached the goal towed and with more than three hours lost, so he obviously says goodbye to any podium option.
The first Dakar in Saudi Arabia has reached its equator before the rest day, where Ricky Brabec can rest on a comfortable mattress of minutes thanks to his second partial victory. The American Honda rider has invested 4 hours, 36 minutes and 28 seconds to cover the 477 kilometers of special at the stage with departure in Ha’il and arrival in Riyadh, where tomorrow's rest day will take place.
It has been a day dominated by Honda riders, since Nacho Cornejo marked the best time in the first sector, Kevin Benavides in the next two and from the WP4 to the finish line nobody has been able to Brabec, which matches the two stage wins of Price.


Joan Barreda returns to the top 5 after being second in the stage.

The second position in the stage has been for the Spanish Joan Barreda, his best partial result in this 2020. The Spaniard has stayed a little more than a minute and a half from his partner and seems to be better off the discomfort in the ribs he has been dragging two days since its fall in the fourth stage.
Everything pointed to a Honda triplet, which has been truncated by Benavides problems, which has allowed Matthias Walkner to finish the stage in third position less than three minutes. Cheetah quietly, Pablo Quintanilla has been fourth less than five minutes from Brabec, followed closely by Luciano Benavides and Nacho Cornejo.
Franco Caimi has stayed behind for more than eight minutes, and although his seventh position today seems to be a lie, it is the best partial result of Yamaha in the present Dakar. The Argentine has surpassed Paulo Gonçalves for three seconds, with Stefan Svitko at ten minutes and Skyler Howes closing the top ten of the stage a quarter of an hour from the winner. Eleventh has finally been Toby Price, which was losing almost eight minutes until the end, but has had to stand on the last leg and has finally doubled the losses to yield more than 16.
As usual, when conditions get complicated, Laia Sanz begins to shine with her own light. Today he did it finishing in the 15th position of the stage thanks to its great regularity (the incredible fact is that in none of the partials he has been in the top 15), yielding 22 minutes with Brabec and, once again, counting the stages of this Dakar for victories in the women's category.
Two places behind, 17th, rookie Jaume Betriu has finished, with Joan Pedrero in the 19th place and Fausto Mota in a good 36th place .. The one who hasn't had the day has been Lorenzo Santolino, who from the middle of the stage It has begun to lose time progressively and in the end it has been left more than an hour ending in the 41st position. He has left Julián García Merino, who had already been hooked days ago with the Dakar Experience formula.

BRABEC ELEVATES THE INCOME
The strength of Ricky Brabec and the difficulties of his adversaries are allowing him to increase his income at the head of the general classification, which is already almost 21 minutes compared to the Chilean Pablo Quintanilla, who without having shone any concrete day is showing a formidable regularity.
Today he has won two positions, relegating Toby Price to third place, which is 25 minutes away and has saved third place for only two seconds over Nacho Cornejo, so the podium positions turn red hot.
They are approached by Joan Barreda, who despite losing a little more ground with the leadership ascends to fifth position by beating Matthias Walkner, with Luciano Benavides seventh to 39 minutes. This means that Quintanilla, being second, is closer to the seventh than the leader. They complete the top ten Skyler Howes, Stefan Svitko and Franco Caimi, who advance a position to the detriment of Kevin Benavides.
Despite the difficulties of the day, Lorenzo Santolino ascends a position in the general by the problems of Benavides and Ross Branch, and the abandonment of the German Sebastian Bühler; with Jaume Betriu 15º and as best rookie. Laia Sanz wins several places and is already 18th just ahead of Joan Pedrero, with Fausto Mota 33º.

DAKAR 2020: RESULTADOS ETAPA 6
P	Piloto	País	Moto	Tiempo
1	Ricky BRABEC	EEUU	Honda	4h36'28''
2	Joan BARREDA	España	Honda	1'34''
3	Matthias WALKNER	Austria	KTM	2'45''
4	Pablo QUINTANILLA	Chile	Husqvarna	4'55''
5	Luciano BENAVIDES	Argentina	KTM	5'02''
6	José Ignacio CORNEJO	Chile	Honda	5'16''
7	Franco CAIMI	Argentina	Yamaha	8'13''
8	Paulo GONÇALVES	Portugal	Hero	8'16''
9	Stefan SVITKO	Eslovaquia	KTM	10'56''
10	Skyler HOWES	EEUU	Husqvarna	15'03''

Nacho González