CRUSHING BLOW OF THE DAY: THE DREAM SLIPS AWAY FOR BENAVIDES
Mathematically, the title has not totally slipped from the grasp of Luciano Benavides. However, the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider, who led the overall rankings in the morning by just 23 seconds ahead of Ricky Brabec, has perhaps missed out on the opportunity of winning the Dakar, which would have been his first triumph on an international level rally-raid. The Argentinean was caught out by Ricky Brabec’s tactical move, whereby the American slowed down at the end of the special to begin stage 12 behind Benavides, who was unable to withstand his rival’s charge through the 311 kilometres against the clock on the day’s menu. The 2023 world champion spared no effort to maintain his position, opening the way for the entire second half of the stage at a steady pace, without pushing the boundaries of what was reasonable on largely rocky terrain. At the finishing line, it was a bitter pill to swallow for Benavides, who is unlikely to attempt the impossible tomorrow to make up the deficit of 3’43’’ to the American rally leader. In any case, he is well on his way to accomplishing his best performance ever on the Dakar, having previously finished no higher than 6th place, in 2023 and 2020.
