Sand! More sand! More dunes! Ahh … more drama! That’s the Dakar!
- STAGE 5: San Juan de Marcona / Arequipa
- Liaison > 508 km – Special > 266 km
Today’s 5th stage in Peru took the riders through yet more sand! But it seems the organisers had planned the worst for the last day in Peru.
Even sand specialist Adrien Van Beveren (Yamaha) found it tough – “My little Yamaha saw me through to the end, but it was tough… I’d never seen sand so loose before. There was a moment when I had to pedal with my legs to get over a dune.”
After a very tough day with over 8 hours on the bike yesterday, Scott Britnell (KTM) put in a fantastic comeback effort today to claim 62nd, and is now holding down 79th overall.
For his first Dakar experience, Scott is going extremely well. Simply completing each day is tough and a credit to his skills, perseverance and determination.
Toby Price (Red Bull KTM) had another good day finishing 7th, 15 minutes off the pace of stage winner Joan Barreda Bort, but retains 6th overall.
And Rodney Faggotter (Yamaha) continued his strong run, finishing 20th and consolidating 17th place overall.
But today’s glory goes to Joan Barreda Bort (Honda) who blitzed the field coming in with more than 10 minutes to spare over Matthias Walkner (KTM) and Kevin Benavides (Honda).
After losing nearly 30 minutes in stage 3 and a further 10 minutes on stage 4, his spectacular ride today moved him 9 places up the leaderboard.
He now sits in 13th place with a 22 min 08 sec deficit to overall leader Adrien Van Beveren.
The competitors have now escaped the coastal dunes and begun the climb into the mountains.
They will spend the night (today our time) in Arequipa, around 2,300 metres above sea level, and tomorrow will head to La Paz in Bolivia.
The competitors then have a much needed rest day in the Bolivian capital to help them acclimatise to the high altitudes.
Top 5 after Stage 5
- 1. Adrien Van Beveren (Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team)
- 2. Kevin Benavides (Monster Energy Honda Team) – 00:01:00
- 3. Matthias Walkner (Red Bull KTM Factory Team) – 00:01:14
- 4. Joan Barreda Bort (Monster Energy Honda Team) – 00:07:33
- 5. Xavier De Soultrait (Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team) – 00:07:42
Australians
- 6. Toby Price (KTM) – 00:10:39
- 17. Rodney Faggotter (Yamaha) – 00:56:44
- 79. Scott Britnell (KTM) – 09:03:08
For more background information check out our Competitor Profiles on: