Cornejo fights hard through the desert as Van Beveren takes Merzouga honours

“I’m happy to get my first podium in the world championship, to go home after having won two stages and having opened the track during two more stages,” JIC said. “Certainly this experience will be positive for my future. We are on the right track. I'm happy with my riding, and I’m picking up more and more pace.”

Benavides and Barreda – two of the marquee names in Dakar competition - also persisted with the route to maximise the training and testing opportunity despite their recently acquired physical woes. Honda continues to chase KTM but the evolution of Cornejo has been one of the most positive aspects of their work and development since preparation for the 2019 Dakar began last summer.

Further west and another of the Dakar elite, Adrien Van Beveren, was mastering the diversity of the Merzouga; a tough and worthy alternative competition to the Abu Dhabi fixture. The Frenchman claimed three wins and built a margin of almost thirty minutes over his nearest rival throughout the five days. “I've had a great feeling with my bike this week and I have to say a huge thanks to all the team, who have worked so hard to support me,” the Frenchman buzzed. “The Merzouga Rally was all about improving. Improving my navigational skills and generally starting our preparations ahead of Dakar 2020. I absolutely feel that we did that. The navigation here is very tricky, so to be opening the tracks as much as I did, that gives me a lot of confidence. This is a great team result. Next, we have the Silk Way Rally, but before then there's more testing and training to do. We keep working…"