Brabec Extends Overall Dakar Lead | Stage 8

Monday’s Stage 8 of the 2024 Dakar Rally, Round One of the FIM World Rally Raid Championship, saw Monster Energy-backed motorcycle class racers continue their 1st through 4th place stronghold on the overall results board, with Monster Energy/Honda Team’s Adrien Van Beveren being the top Stage 8 placer with a 3rd place run.

Joining Van Beveren in the top five on Stage 8 was Stage 7 winner Jose “Nacho” Cornejo. The three-time ’24 Dakar stage winner brought his Honda CRF450 Rally home in 4th place, solidifying in No. 3 position in the overall standings through eight stages – one spot out front of Van Beveren (4th) overall. Rounding out the top ten on today’s Al Duwadimi to Ha’il stage, a 220 km Liaison with a 458 km special, was Monster Energy/Honda Team’s Ricky Brabec, the overall series leader, in 7th place, with 2nd place overall Ross Branch (Hero Motosports, fueled by Monster Energy) right behind in 8th.

Brabec leads Branch for the overall Dakar motorcycle class championship by a mere 42 seconds with eight of 12 stages completed.

In SSV class racing today Monster Energy’s Sara Price scored another top five position (4th), running her South Racing Can-Am Maverick to the time of 3:55:23, which was 8:37 back of the lead time set by fellow Can-Am racers Joao Ferreira and Filipe Palmeiro. The former motocross great, partnered with navigator Jeremy Gray, are in 3rd place overall in the SSV standings.

Stage Quotes

Van Beveren: “It was nice today. I like that I rode quite fast. I realize at the refuel I was in the lead with Ricky (Brabec). After that the navigation got a little bit tricky, and I think I did good. And, yeah, the story of today was that my riding and my speed were on point. But I knew that today was a short stage, and I could win it. But I know that tomorrow is a long stage, so yeah, it broke my heart to have to make the choice to stop for some small minutes. And this broke my heart because I am not a racer to stop during a race, you know? And that’s why I’m deeply frustrated. Yeah, I took this decision, and I am a bit pissed off because I thought I would fall back further, like 6th or 7th. It’s tough for me to accept this situation today. But that’s how it is.”

Brabec: “Stage 8 was good. We knew that times were tight, but we didn’t want to push too hard and finish up front, leave Ross (Branch) with a big gap for make up on Stage 9. But we did a good job managing, and hopefully what we did pays out – but we won’t know until tomorrow. So let’s keep our head high and keep focused on that.”

Cornejo: “Today was good! Shorter stage, but not easy. Started with dunes and navigation in sand piste. And after our transition in the middle, we had a lot of rocks and tricky navigation. It was a day that could go very smooth or very bad. We kept it smooth, no big mistakes and didn’t lose that much time. We’re happy with the starting position for tomorrow so we think a little bit on the starting gate today and it went, I think, how we wanted.”

Notes:

• In the “Quotes” section above the racers, mainly AVB, discussed the game of ‘Cat & Mouse’ that’s now being played, particularly with the KTM (Kevin Benavides and Toby Price) and Husqvarna (Luciano Benavides) teams, the racers with a legitimate shot at the overall championship. The strategy involves purposely slowing down in order to get a lower position in the stage finish, so that the racer gets a better start position the following day. This was most evident with Brabec, who led most of Stage 8 – and placed 7th by the stage checkers.
   
• As it stands, KTM’s Kevin Benevides is the lone racer with the best shot at Brabec, Branch and Cornejo for the overall win or podium position. But Benevides, in 5th place overall, trails 1st place Brabec and 2nd place Branch by some 20 minutes. And with Monster Energy/Honda Team’s Cornejo and AVB running interference for Brabec, while also being there to lend assistance in case of a crash or navigational error, the team play advantage is certainly in favor of Monster Energy/Honda Team.
   
• With eight of 12 stages complete, four to go, Stage 9 could prove to be a difference maker as race officials point out that the stage, which starts out simple enough with a fast-paced Special, quickly turns into a route where “Tracks are more felt than seen.” Rocky plateaus will have the racers teetering on destruction, where one lapse in judgment can signal RACE OVER for any/all of those involved.
   
• The Stage 9 Ha’il to Alula route takes the racers back in the direction towards where they started earlier in the month. Located in the northwest corner of Saudi Arabia, Ha’il is the capital city of the Ha’il region. Alula, located west of Ha’il, is an ancient Arabic oasis city and is located in the “Hejaz,” the holiest region in Islam with the cities of Mecca and Medina nearby.

Dakar Stage 8 Motorcycle Results

Monster Energy Motorcycle Standings @ Dakar (after Stage 8)

Monster Energy Dakar SSV Class

Stage 9 will run 639 km from Ha’il to Alula, with a sizable 417 km Special. Look for a lot of strategy off the start for the fours Monster Energy-backed leaders – Brabec (1st), Branch (2nd), Cornejo (3rd) and Van Beveren (4th). A high speed start leads to a tricky plateau formation to draw the utmost speed and skill out of the contestants. For more information, including “Live” timing and scoring, visit www.dakar.com