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Dakar 2024 Stage 12 Results: Noah & Hero Create History As Brabec & Sainz Claim Titles
The 12th and final stage of Dakar 2024 saw KTM's Kevin Benavides win his 3rd stage of the rally while WRC legend Sebastien Loeb made it five stage wins this year. Meanwhile, Audi's Carlos Sainz took his fourth overall Dakar win in the cars category while Honda's Ricky Brabec took his title tally up to two.
It was a historic day for India at the Dakar with two significant milestones being ticked off. Sherco TVS rider Harith Noah won the Rally 2 motorcycle class at Dakar, a first for any Indian competitor at the world's toughest rally. The rider from Kerala finished 11th in the overall standings.
Hero became the first Indian manufacturer to be on the overall podium of the Dakar Rally with Botswana's Ross Branch bringing home his 450 Rally in 2nd overall, after 12 hard-fought rounds on the sands of Saudi Arabia.
Bikes
Today's stage a loop around the seaside city of Yanbu saw Kevin Benavides lead a KTM 1-2 on the time sheets. The Argentinian rider completed the 175-kilometre-long special stage in 01:48:40, finishing the special, one minute ahead of his Aussie teammate Toby Price in second.
It was the other Benavides brother who occupied the final podium spot for the stage with Luciano bringing his Husqvarna across the line, one minute and 14 seconds behind his brother.
The lone Hero rider at the Dakar, Ross Branch, ended the stage in ninth place, four minutes and two seconds behind the winning KTM. He finished the stage, two places behind his rival this year, Ricky Brabec with the overall Dakar 2024 winner ending the stage three minutes and 31 seconds adrift of Benavides in 7th place.
India's Harith Noah, ended today stage in 11th place, 04:19 seconds behind the lead KTM of Kevin Benavides. Despite ending the stage in the same time as his Rally 2 rival, Bradley Cox, Noah was ranked below the South African because he started the stage behind him at the start point for today.
In the overall rankings after 12 stages of Dakar 2024, it was American rider Ricky Brabec who emerged victorious at the world's toughest rally. This is the second Dakar win for the Honda riding Brabec (he last won in 2020). Brabec beat out Hero's Branch by 10:53 after 12 gruelling rounds.
The final podium spot was claimed by Honda's Adrien Van Beveren who ended Dakar 12 minutes and 25 seconds behind Brabec. KTM's Kevin Benavides and Toby Price rounded off the top 5.
Cars
In the cars category, WRC legend Sebastien Loeb took his fifth stage win of the year, finishing the stage in 01:39:41. Loeb ended the stage five minutes and nine seconds ahead of Toyota's Guillaume De Mevius. X-Raid Arijus' Vaidotas Zala rounded off the podium.
Mattias Ekstrom was the fastest Audi on the stage, finishing 12th today. Ekstrom ended the stage 08:34 behind Loeb. El Matador Carlos Sainz ended the stage in 17th place, 10:50 behind Loeb.
In the overall standings, Audi claimed its first win at the Dakar with Carlos Sainz claiming his 4th Dakar victory ending the rally with an overall time of 48:15:18. This is the 4th Dakar win for El Matador (with his 4th manufacturer). He previously won in 2010 with VW, 2018 with Peugeot and 2020 with Mini.
Second in the general rankings was Belgium's Guillaume De Mevius. The Overdrive Racing driver, who won Stage 1 of the rally ended Dakar 2024 in 2nd overall, 01:20:25 behind Sainz.
The final podium spot was captured by today's stage winner Sebastien Loeb who ended the rally 01:29:12 behind Sainz. It was another year where the WRC legend's luck failed him as yesterday's big crash knocked him out of contention for the overall win just as he was getting into full flow with yet another late charge at the Dakar.
Thoughts About Dakar 2024
The 2024 edition of Dakar saw two familiar faces toasting victory at the end of the world's toughest rally. Audi's Carlos Sainz was victorious in the cars category with El Matador claiming his 4th Dakar title.
In the bikes category, Honda's American rider Ricky Brabec duelled Hero's Ross Branch for most of the Dakar before sprinting away to victory in the last four stages of the rally. Brabec is still the only American to win the Dakar, a feat he first achieved in 2020 with Honda.
It was a historic day for India at the Dakar as well with Hero becoming the first Indian manufacturer to get on the podium at the world's toughest rally. Kerala's Harith Noah, won the Rally 2 class in the motorcycles category, with the Sherco TVS rider also claiming two class wins on Stage 8 and Stage 10. Noah took the lead in the Rally 2 class yesterday and never looked back.
Well, that was Dakar 2024, as tough and dangerous as a rally can be. The world's toughest rally will return to Saudi Arabia next year with big changes already known for the team lineups for next year.
Dacia will be entering Dakar next year and will feature Sebastien Loeb, 4-time winner Nasser Al-Attiyah and Cristina Gutiérrez Herrero, who won the T3 class in the cars category this year. Audi will have quite the fight on its hands next year. In the bikes category, Hero is expected to go back to its three-rider lineup as this was Joan Barreda Bort's last ever Dakar in the saddle.
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