Van Beveren Wins Dakar’s Stage 9

Another Dakar Rally stage sweep for Monster Energy as Honda Team racers – Adrien Van Beveren (1st), Ricky Brabec (2nd) and Pablo Quintanilla (3rd) – captured the top three positions in Tuesday’s Stage 9 run from Al Duwadimi to Alula, featuring an intense 436 km Special through tire-popping rocks, with navigational situations meant to confuse even the most well-schooled map readers.

The day belonged to Van Beveren, who stopped the finish line clock at 4:36:46, some 32 seconds out front of overall Dakar motorcycle division leader Brabec. Quintanilla was 4:19 behind in 3rd place, but over two minutes ahead of KTM racer Toby Price (4th). 5th place, and still holding strong to 2nd place overall in the standings, was Monster Energy’s Ross Branch (Hero Motosports).

Through 9 of 12 rounds Brabec, who became the first (and only) American to win the motorcycle division in the Dakar Rally (2020), increased his lead over Branch from 42 seconds (at the beginning of Stage 9) to 7:09. And with the stage win, the fifth of his Dakar career, Van Beveren was able to rally past his teammate, Jose “Nacho” Cornejo, and into the No. 3 overall podium position. Cornejo, who’s won three of the nine Dakar stages thus far, placed 7th in Stage 9.

“It’s still long. More than 1,000 kilometers of racing left, so I need to keep really focused,” said Van Beveren on his move up to the overall podium. “I think nothing is done, and you have to continue to give your best. Every kilometer. Every meter.”

In SSV class racing today, Monster Energy’s Sara Price would bring her South Racing/Can-Am Maverick home in 8th place on Stage 9, but in doing so managed to move up from 3rd place to 2nd place in the overall class standings. As it stands, Price, along with her co-driver Jeremy Gray, are 28:16 back of class leaders Xavier Soultrait and Martin Bonnet. However, as the Dakar adage always goes… “This is Dakar… and anything can happen between now and when the checkers fly on the final stage.” So Price, in her very first year competing at Dakar, is in a great position for not only an overall podium finish, but also a possible victory.

Stage Quotes

Van Beveren: “Ah, it was a good day. To win a stage at the Dakar is nice, but today will stay in my memory because winning the stage, while opening the stage, is really good. All the work I do, physically, but also the navigation work, it’s not the case every day, so we have to appreciate it. Enjoy it.”

Brabec: “Nothing is set in stone yet. But with three days left we’re doing a bit better than we were yesterday. Today we were able to get a good push, but unfortunately, before refueling, we lost the (rear) brakes again. Still  we were able to complete the day. Tomorrow looks good. I’ve got a teammate in front of me and a teammate behind me, just to grab some bonus time – and hopefully nobody makes a mistake. Then after that there’s only two more days, and hopefully those are good to us as well.”

Quintanilla: “Yeah, good day. Good day. Feeling good. Tough stage, hard one. But we all stayed the same. First 100 kms had a lot of common grass, dunes, off piste – very physically demanding. And then the second part I would say more fast, but with tricky navigation. There were three points that were difficult to find and to see, and also some rocky section. You would be coming in on piste, then all of a sudden it was all rocks. Then in 200, 300 meters or so you would find the piste again. So not easy, but I was feeling good. No issues. Good feeling with the bike, the navigation. Didn’t make any mistakes and super good day for us. One. Two. Three. Nice to see all of our bikes up front.”

Notes:

• Honda’s CRF450 Rally bike, which saw major redesign work for the 2024 model year, has continued to get rave reviews from the guys piloting it at unbelievable speeds through the burly Saudi countryside. Said today’s winner AVB: “I know the reaction of the bike. She is very stable. We have good reaction, good traction. Every day I say to the guys ‘Keep the same. I don’t want to change anything because I feel the bike is doing really amazing and I hope, fingers crossed, she will bring me to the best result.”
   
• Brabec’s lead time extension today was a direct result of some navigational miscues by 2nd place Branch. Brabec, who has yet to win a stage at Dakar this year, has made the best of consistent racing and been awarded with a class-best four 2nd place podium stage finishes.
   
• Tuesday’s Stage 9 was one of the faster stages of this year’s Dakar Rally, as explained by Quintanilla. “Yeah, it was fast. I would say we were going 140, 50 60 (km), then it would get narrow and lot of turns, so that would slow down the average,” he said.
   
• With three stages remaining (10, 11 & 12), and Monster Energy/Honda Team racers are positioned in 1st, 3rd and 4th, so there’s a certain level of comfort that leader Brabec feels, as do potential podium placers Van Beveren (3rd) and Cornejo (4th). And while team strategy is always in play at Dakar, it becomes far more evident when the stages wind down and only a few remain. Said the always upbeat Branch, who’s Hero motorcycle is surrounded by the powerful Honda factory effort. “It’s a really good feeling being surrounded by the best guys in the world,” beamed Branch.
   
• Alula’s Stage 10 loop features a tension-packed ride around the same monumental rocks they toured, at speed, in the event’s early stages. A 241 km Liaison to go with a challenging 371 km Special will no doubt produce white knuckles and anxiety for the top riders as every little knock, ping, over-rev on the bike can sound like title hopes slipping away. 

Dakar Stage 9 Motorcycle Results

Monster Energy Motorcycle Standings @ Dakar (after Stage 9)

Monster Energy Dakar SSV Class

Dakar’s Stage 10 will loop from Alula to Alula, a 241 km Liaison to go with a challenging 371 km. For more information, including “Live” timing and scoring, visit www.dakar.com