Benavides Tops 2023 Dakar

words STEPH VETTERLY photos RALLY ZONE

Each and every year, the Dakar provides some of the most memorable and challenging terrain across two weeks of intense offroad riding, and this year was no different. The key to the Dakar is consistency – finishing as the fastest racer of a stage puts you as the opener for the following day, and puts you at risk of time loss as you have no tracks to follow. Holding consistent throughout the 14 stages keeps you within reach of the overall podium, which is exactly what Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Kevin Benavides did. It all came down to the wire on the final day of racing, with Benavides and teammate, Toby Price, separated by mere seconds, the closest Dakar finish in decades. In the end, Benavides was able to redeem himself from his challenging and frustrating 2022 Dakar experience, which was wrought with mistakes and mechanical issues, to add yet another win to his record (having won the 2021 edition), finishing with a lead of only 43 seconds.

It all started in the Sea Camp. In the opening stage, the course of 603 km went out into Saudia Arabia and looped back to Sea Camp through gravel, sand, and plenty of dunes. It was Monster Energy Honda’s Ricky Brabec with the race lead, finishing just seconds ahead of Kevin Benavides and BAS World KTM Racing Team’s Mason Klein. Unfortunately for two-time Dakar winner, Sam Sunderland, 2023 was not to be his year. Just 52km into the stage, Sunderland hit a stone buried in the sand, sending him off the bike. Reporting back with a broken shoulder blade, a hematoma on his back, and a concussion, his dreams of adding yet another Dakar win to his resume ended.

Both Daniel Sanders and Pablo Quintanilla, along with a slew of other racers, were hot on the gas, but perhaps a bit too hot. They each received a penalty for speeding through the open connecting sections, dropping in the standings and allowing Ricky Brabec to move into the stage win at 3:31:10.

Sherco’s Lorenzo Santolino started the race off with a solid finish just outside the top 10.

“I felt very good,” explained the Spainard. “I managed to pass several riders, I tried to not waste too much time overtaking them in the dust and concentrated on keeping a good rhythm. I'm happy to have reached the finish line, I was confident in my navigation, however I'm still a bit lacking in riding rhythm in the dunes.”

Stage 2 looked to be more of the same, with 430km of desert in the 589km-long stage on the way to Alula. It was Michael Docherty initially setting the pace until Mason Klein took over around the 186km mark. The 21-year-old Klein started third on the day and was able to keep a good pace and take his firstever overall stage win. Matthias Walkner would suffer a crash at 120kph. With a broken bone in his wrist and a few stitches, he was not about to step away. Getting back on the bike, he would stay in the race until stage 13 when he would crash out and was taken to the hospital.

Saudi Arabia had more challenges in store for this year’s competitors, starting in Stage 3. The rain began about halfway through the stage, during the 670km run from Ha’il. Riders who were unable to reach the finish line before race officials called the day early received a nominal scoring. Daniel Sanders set a solid pace, leading from start to finish through the rocky trails, moving himself from fifth overall to second, less than two minutes behind Klein.

With more mechanical difficulties and penalties as the competition wore on, it would be Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Skyler Howes working his way up through the leaderboard. After putting himself in the top three by the third stage, he would work slowly and consistently up through the ranks, taking the overall lead by stage 5, where he would stay until stage 10. As the weather in Saudia Arabia turned from bad to worse, the race officials had some difficult decisions to make. On the start of stage 6, the bivouac in Al Duwadimi was found to be flooded, and without a way for competitors to safely arrive, a new route was implemented, skipping Al Duwadimi and going straight to Riyadh.

Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Luciano Benavides, the brother of Kevin Benavides, was able to take his first stage win, finishing almost a full minute ahead of Howes and nearly three minutes ahead of his brother. The weather did not let up, causing some riders to pull into the bivouac as late as 3am. With stage 7 set to start at 4:30am that same day, the stage (for the bikes and quads) was canceled due to safety concerns. Riders were graced with some extra downtime, taking a comparatively leisurely ride straight to the Al Duwadimi bivouac, as they prepared to get back to racing with stage 8.

Rieju’s Sandra Gomez began her 2023 Dakar with the goal of earning the award for fastest female. With her background in trials and hard enduro on her side, she was able to finish the first stage in 91st place, and by the end of stage 2 had moved up to 71st, beating out many of her male rivals and becoming the provisional leader of her class. By stage 6, she had moved up to 65th position, albeit dropping back to second place in the women’s category behind HT Rally Raid Husqvarna Racing’s Mirjam Pol, who was looking to secure her third trophy as fastest female, having won the title in both 2009 and 2022. Unfortunately, despite regaining the lead in stage 5, health problems got the better of her. Unable to arrive on time at the start of the special stage in stage 6, Gomez was given the opportunity to rejoin, out of the competition and without options to fight for victory. She ultimately decided not to continue, due to both the harshness of the race and her physical condition.

"I'm not going to continue, because I came here to finish the race and, if I could, win the women's trophy, but I can neither win nor finish,” explained Gomez. “My body is a wreck, I've tried to come as best as possible, but I also have to be realistic and consistent, love myself a little and recover a little, and get back to being at one hundred percent. That's why I have to quit. I have no other choice. It bothers me a lot because there are a lot of people behind me, I have invested time, effort, people, family, friends, money, everything; and it hasn't worked out, but I'm sure we will come back because I have an impressive team of people behind me."

Throughout the next several stages, it would be Howes, Price, and Benavides trading leads. By stage 11, Howes would have the lead over Price by only 28 seconds, which they traded in stage 12 as Price took the lead. Coming into the final stage on the route from Al-Hofuf to Dammam, less than two minutes separated the top three, with only 12 seconds separating then-leader Price from Benavides. At this point in the game, it was anyone’s race.

Benavides was able to dig deep for one final push; less than 50 km into the final 406km stretch, he had already matched Price’s time and was starting to pull away. Try as he might, Price just wasn’t able to keep up; he finished the stage less than a minute behind Benavides and had to settle for a second-place finish. The result makes it two Dakar titles for Benavides – 2021 and now 2023 – and marks KTM’s 19th win at the infamous race.

“It’s been an amazing day!” said Benavides at the finish of stage 14. “I just focused on every kilometer from the first to the last. I didn’t think about the position or the result I just gave my 100 percent over the whole stage and tried to enjoy the day. The final special was really fast and tricky, and so muddy – thankfully I didn’t make any big mistakes, but it would have been easy to have an issue out there. I have worked so hard for this. This year’s rally has been one of the closest ever and there wasn’t a single day where you could afford to ease off. I couldn’t have done it without the support of my team, and all my family and friends. It’s going to take a little while to sink in, I can’t describe this feeling right now.”

“So, so close,” commented Price. “Yeah, a great job from Kevin, he did really well. I knew it was going to be tight, and of course I pushed right from the start all through the stage. I just missed three waypoints by virtually meters, and it dropped me back. Obviously, the goal is to win, and it’s frustrating to miss out by such a narrow margin. But I’m fit, healthy, and I’m going home with a trophy, so that’s the most important thing. I’m ready for another one next year.”

Finishing third, his best ever Dakar finish, was Skyler Howes. “I am so happy!” said Howes. “It’s been an incredible race with highs and lows, and it’s come right down to the wire on this final day. I knew the guys behind me would be pushing so hard today, and to go into this final day less than two minutes behind after well over 40 hours of racing is incredible. I arrived at the finish safely, and it feels like a dream come true and such an honour to share it with two legends like Toby (Price) and Kevin (Benavides). Everyone knows what you have to go through to get to this point, and after all that hard work, it makes this moment feel so sweet. Of course I want to come back and see what the other two steps of the podium feel like. But to now be one of five Americans to reach the podium at Dakar, it feels amazing.”

As Saudi Arabia would spell bad news for his teammates, Lorenzo Santolino would be the only Sherco Factory rider to finish. He crossed the line just inside the top 10, improving on his 11th-place finish in last year’s Dakar.

“I finished 9th, a very satisfying result,” explained Santolino. “It was a difficult edition but we managed and our strategy allowed me to finish in the top 10, improving by two places on last year's results. I thank the entire Sherco Factory Rally team and all the people who supported me. Now it's time for the return trip home for a rest phase and to enjoy my family."

OVERALL:

1. Kevin Benavides (KTM)

2. Toby Price (KTM)

3. Skyler Howes (HSQ)

4. Pablo Quintanilla (HON)

5. Adrien Van Beveren (HON)

6. Luciano Benavides (HSQ)

7. Daniel Sanders (GG)

8. Jose Ignacio Cornejo Florimo (HON)

9. Lorenzo Santolino (SHE)

10. Franco Caimi