RALLY DAKAR 2023
Ross Branch wins, Mason Klein leads and Joan Barreda clings to the Dakar 2023
Botswana's Ross Branch has won the eighth stage of the Dakar 2023, the second in Hero's history, covering the 346-kilometre timed special between Al Duwadimi and Riyadh in 3 hours, 46 minutes and 18 seconds to win by 1: 33 to the American Mason Klein, new leader.
Klein took advantage of the great loss of minutes by the drivers who were opening the track to recover ground in the general classification, where he leads his compatriot Skyler Howes by 47 seconds, with the Spanish Joan Barreda dropping to eighth position just over nine minutes off the lead and a good starting position for the day after tomorrow.
Willing to put some more difficult days behind him, Mason Klein put the turbo on from the start of the stage to set the best time in the first three waypoints, in which little by little he was moving away his rivals with the exception of Ross Branch and Daniel Sanders, the only ones who kept up with him.
Halfway through the special, Sanders was losing some of his steam and the fight for the stage victory was down to a matter of two: Ross Branch, who was already leading by seven seconds over Mason Klein at the halfway point, pressed on in the final part to win by 1:33, with Daniel Sanders at 3:15.
The reason for Sanders' final 'slump' was none other than having to start opening the track... when he had started seventh! Open track was wreaking havoc. Already in the third WP, Skyler Howes and Toby Price hunted down Luciano Benavides, who was joined shortly after by Joan Barreda. In the final stretch, Sanders caught them taking with him Kevin Benavides and Pablo Quintanilla, whom he had passed before.
Pablo Quintanilla, who had started just in front of Sanders, was the other big beneficiary, giving up only 6:29 to finish, with Adrien Van Beveren six seconds behind. Eight minutes behind were Michael Docherty, Sebastien Bühler, Matthias Walkner and Lorenzo Santolino, with Kevin Benavides closing the top 10.
Joan Barreda trailed by 12:30, remaining ahead of Tosha Schareina and the three drivers who had collected the bonuses for opening the track. Discounting the bonuses, Toby Price lost 14:33, Skyler Howes 15:06 and Luciano Benavides 16:31. For his part, Joan Pedrero had another top 30 finish and Javi Vega finished 36th, three minutes behind his great rival in Original, Charan Moore.
by SWINXY
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