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Dakar 2024 Stage 6 Results: Van Beveren And Loeb Emerge Victorious After 48 Hour Chrono Insanity
Stage 6 of Dakar 2024 saw riders compete in a 48 Hour Chrono stage for the very first time at the Dakar. Honda's Adrien Van Beveren won in the bikes category while Sebastien Loeb claimed victory in the cars category.
Stage 6 saw riders cover a 626-kilometre special stage with those on four wheels driving a 549-kilometre timed stage. The stage started on Thursday (11th Jan) with racers allowed to race till 4 p.m. before heading to the closest rest stop.
After an overnight stay in small personal tents with only the others who made it to the rest spot for company and no clue about how the others were doing. The competitors then quite early in the morning today headed back out into the Empty Quarter back to Shubaytah.
Bikes
The Bikes category saw Honda's French rider Adrien Van Beveren win the 48-Hour Chrono Stage which was stage six. Van Beveren took the lead during the first day itself and along with 11 other riders made it to the final rest spot (F) by the time racing was stopped yesterday at 4 p.m.
Despite having just over 100 kilometres to go on the second day of the stage, the Frenchman continued to push, ending the special in seven hours, 57 minutes and 29 seconds, the only rider to do so.
Taking second spot for Stage 6 in the bikes category was KTM's Toby Price. The Aussie rider finished the two-day stage, four minutes and 13 seconds behind the Honda of Van Beveren.
The final podium spot for the stage was taken by another Honda rider, Ricky Brabec. The American, who is now at the top of the general standings, finished the stage five minutes and two seconds behind his French teammate.
GasGas Racing's Daniel Sanders took the fourth spot, ending six minutes and 55 seconds behind Van Beveren. The Australian rider was followed across the line by Hero's Ross Branch.
Branch was the only Hero rider to finish the stage with Joan Barreda Bort (Bang Bang to his fans) coming to a halt on the second day due to mechanical issues which saw him retire from the stage. Both riders had made it to Rest Point F on Day 1 but only Branch made it across the line, ending the stage, nine minutes and 40 seconds behind Van Beveren.
Of the two Sherco riders, it was India's Harith Noah who was the fastest. The rider from Kerala, ended the stage in 13th overall (3rd in the Rally 2 Class) as he persevered through the soft sands of Saudi Arabia's Empty Quarter to end the stage 16 minutes and one second behind Van Beveren.
The other Sherco rider, Rui Goncalves had to endure a torrid first day in the saddle on Stage 6, as he ran out of fuel quite a way off from one of the refuelling points and ended up losing a whole lot of time. Goncalves ended the stage in 80th overall, five hours, 12 minutes and 41 seconds behind the stage winner.
In the overall rankings, Honda's Ricky Brabec now leads Dakar 2024 with a time of 27 hours, 11 minutes and 21 seconds. The American rider is just 51 seconds ahead of Hero's Ross Branch as the Dakar heads into the only rest day of the event.
Stage 6 winner Adrien Van Beveren occupies the final podium spot and is nine minutes and 21 seconds behind his Honda teammate. Two-time Dakar 2024 stage winner 'Nacho' Florimo is in fourth place, the Chilean rider trails his American teammate by 14 minutes and 14 seconds.
Australian KTM rider Toby Price rounds off the top 5 and sits 27 minutes behind Brabec. Defending champion Kevin Benavides is in 6th, 28 minutes and 33 seconds off the pace.
India's Harith Noah is now 13th in the overall standings with the rider from Kerala 01:57:42 off the pace. Noah is currently third in the Rally 2 category. His Sherco teammate Rui Goncalves is now 33rd overall, 06:00:49 seconds behind Brabec and with no realistic chance of winning the rally.
Cars
The cars category, saw WRC legend Sebastien Loeb take his second stage win of Dakar 2024. The French driver who had slowed down on Stage 5, to get a better starting position for the Chrono stage, took the lead today morning after ending the first day of Stage 6 behind the Audi's of Sainz and Ekstrom.
Leob then blitzed the remaining 100+ kilometres this morning to take the victory, overtaking his Audi rivals on the way ending the special stage in 07:21:56, 2 minutes and 11 seconds ahead of Sainz in second and 10:55 ahead of Ekstrom in third place.
The Audi duo had been fighting each other for the lead early in Day 1 before Sainz took control, ending Day 1 in the lead of the 1-2 Audi pair. However, both hybrid Audis were no match for Loeb who pulled away early on Day 2 to claim the 48 Hour Chrono Stage.
Two-time defending champion Nasser Al Attiyah, who led the pack out on Day 1 was fifth overall when the time to stop was rung last night. Al Attiyah started off Day 2 of the stage in good spirits but his Prodrive Hunter came to a halt 530km into the special stage.
He was forced to wait for the support truck to arrive meaning that the mechanical gremlins took nearly three hours to get rid of, effectively ending his chances of making it a hattrick of victories at the Dakar. Al Attiyah ended the stage in 54th, 02:45:23 behind Loeb.
The two-day Chrono stage was a disaster for other Dakar favourites. Saudi Arabia's Yazeed Al Rajhi crashed out of the stage early on Day 1, ending his chances of winning the Dakar. Al Rajhi's Toyota ended up on its roof after a crash and the Saudi driver is racing to get it ready for action on Sunday to ensure he finishes this year's rally.
The final Audi of Stephane Peterhansel completed the stage in 64th place, with Mr Dakar, 03:02:24 behind his fellow countryman Loeb. This was mainly due to the technical issues he had to face on Day 1, which saw him lose nearly two hours.
In the overall standings, Audi's Carlos Sainz now leads Dakar 2024 with a time of 24:59:32. El Matador leads his Audi teammate Mattias Ekstrom by 20 minutes and 21 seconds.
Sebastien Loeb sits third overall, 29 minutes and 31 seconds off the pace set by the Spanish rally legend. The 9-time WRC champion must be regretting the fact he missed a waypoint on Stage 5, which saw him hit with a 15-minute penalty.
Toyota's Lucas Moraes is in fourth overall, 01:04:00 behind while Stage 1 winner De Mevius is in 5th, 01:09:47 behind Sainz. Two-time defending champion Nasser Al Attiyah is 02:40:54 behind with just six stages left to go.
Thoughts About Dakar 2024 Stage 6
Stage 6 of Dakar 2024 saw competitors face the unknown in the form of the 48 Hour Chrono stage. Both riders and drivers had to deal with the ultra-soft sands that make up the massive dunes of the Empty Quarter of Saudi Arabia and it was no easy task with the cars' stage shortened by 30km due to the increased fuel usage.
As competitors compromised between speed and fuel consumption, Dakar's gremlins made their presence known with many a favourite dropping out before Honda's Adrien Van Beveren and rally legend Sebastien Leob stepped onto the tops of the two podiums.
Tomorrow is the traditional day of rest at the halfway point of the Dakar Rally and racing will begin in earnest on Sunday with the 873km (483km special) journey from the Saudi capital of Riyadh to Al Duwadimi.
The second half of Dakar 2024 will see the competitors head west to finish on the Red Sea coast at Yanbu on the 19th of January. The cars category will require a Herculean effort from Sebastien Leob if he wishes to win the Dakar for the first time. The bikes category though is still quite close with Hero's Ross Branch less than a minute behind Brabec.
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