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Dakar 2024 Stage 11 Results: Branch & Chicherit Win As Noah Rises To The Top Of Rally 2
Stage 11 of Dakar 2024 saw Hero's Ross Branch and Overdrive Racing's Guerlain Chicherit win as India's Harith Noah ended the day at the top of the Rally 2 class in the general rankings.
Stage 11 saw competitors go from Alula to the coastal city of Yanbu covering a total of 587 kilometres of mostly barren and rugged terrain. Today's stage included a 480km long special stage.
Bikes
Hero's Ross Branch took his second win of Dakar 2024 as he completed the 480km long in 04:51:57. Branch pushed from the start as he tried to cut down the nearly 11-minute lead of Honda's American Ricky Brabec.
However, the American Honda rider too was sprinting as he opened the stage. However, Brabec, despite gaining 05:45 in bonuses, Brabec was unable to prevent Branch from taking the stage, ending the stage 32 seconds behind his rival. Honda's Adrien Van Beveren took the final podium spot, with the French rider ending the day three minutes and 17 seconds behind Branch.
India's Harith Noah continued his history-making sprint across the sands of Saudi Arabia as he finished the day in 11th overall (2nd in the Rally 2 Class). Noah ended the day, 16:34 behind Branch. His teammate Rui Goncalves did not finish the stage. We still await news on what caused the Portuguese rider to retire today.
Noah's run in the Saudi sands today saw him create history once again, both for Indians at the Dakar and for the Sherco team. Thanks to his performance today, Noah leads the Rally 2 Class at Dakar 2024 with a time of 52:31:45.
This is another first for India at the rally and also a first for any rider racing on Sherco hardware at Dakar. Noah leads the Rally 2 class by 05:53 from Romain Dumontier and is ahead of South Africa's Bradley Cox (3rd overall, Rally 2 winner today by 06:28.
In the overall standings, Noah is currently in 11th place, 02:53:48 behind overall leader Ricky Brabec of Honda. Hero's Ross Branch is in second place, 10:22 behind while Honda's Adrien Van Beveren occupies the final podium spot, 14:31 behind his American teammate.
Cars
Overdrive Racing's Guerlain Chicherit won his second stage on the trot today with the French driver blitzing the route to Yanbu in four hours and 43 minutes. The French driver ended the day, 05:32 ahead of his Belgian teammate, Guillaume De Mevius, the winner of the first round of Dakar 2024.
Rounding off the podium was Audi's Carlos Sainz, who ended the stage just three seconds behind De Mevius and 05:35 behind Chicherit. Sainz ended the stage a place ahead of teammate Mattias Ekstrom who took 04:52:46 to complete the stage. The final Audi driven by Stephane Peterhansel ended the day in 18th place, 30:07 adrift of the winner.
Sainz was able to cruise to third place today after disaster befell his only rival in the overall standings, Sebastien Loeb. The 9-time WRC champion's legendary bad luck at the Dakar once again reared its ugly head today.
Coming off a jump early in the stage, Loeb landed badly, breaking the front right A-arm of his Prodrive Hunter. The French driver was reported to have asked for assistance to exit the stage but some timely help from YunXiang China T1+ team's Hunter crew helped him fix the broken suspension part.
However, that major halt saw him lose any chance of winning Dakar 2024 as he ended the day in 63rd place, 01:28:15 behind Chicherit and unfortunately, 01:22:40 behind Sainz.
In the overall standings, Audi's Carlos Sainz looks certain to claim his fourth win at the Dakar with a fourth different manufacturer thanks to Loeb's crash today. Sianz leads Dakar 2024 after 11 stages with a time of 46:23:47.
Belgium's Guillaume De Mevius is second overall, 01:27:06 behind Sainz while Loeb rounds off the podium. The French driver is 01:36:02 behind Sainz and it will take an Act of God to deny El Matador another Dakar win.
Thoughts About Dakar 2024 Stage 11
Stage 11 of Dakar 2024 saw Hero's Ross Branch and Overdrive Racing's Guerlain Chicherit claim their second stage wins of Dakar 2024 as India's Harith Noah created history at the Dakar once again by taking control of the Rally 2 class in the overall rankings.
Audi's Carlos Sainz looks set to win the fourth Dakar Rally of his storied career in the cars category, and Honda's American rider Ricky Brabec seems to have put his name on the trophy in the bikes category.
While Brabec looks assured of victory, carrying a nearly 10-and-a-half-minute lead into the final stage, India's Harith Noah will need to continue with his steady pace while keeping an eye out for Romain Dumontier and Bradley Cox who are around six and six and half minutes behind him respectively to claim the top spot in Rally 2.
The final run to the finish line of Dakar 2024 will see competitors complete a 328-kilometre loop around the coastal Saudi city of Yanbu which includes a 175-kilometre special stage. With no major obstacles around, competitors are expected to blitz tomorrow's final run to the finish.
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