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Dakar 2024 Stage 9 Results: Van Beveren Takes 2nd Stage Win As Loeb Captures 4th Stage Victory
Stage 9 of Dakar 2024 saw familiar names stand atop the podiums at the end of the super stage which saw the world's toughest rally return to its starting point. Honda's Adrien Van Beveren captured his second stage win of Dakar 2024 while his fellow countryman Sebastien Loeb took his tally to 4.
Today's stage saw competitors cover a variety of terrains - sand, dunes, rocks and tarmac - as they made the 612 kilometres run from Hail back to Dakar 2024's starting point Alula. The timed special for Stage 9 covered a distance of 417 kilometres.
Bikes
Honda's French rider Adrien Van Beveren, already victorious in the 48 Hour Chrono Stage (Stage 6) took his second win of Dakar 2024. The French rider finished his sojourn across the Saudi sands in 04:36:46.
Today's stage saw Honda claim a 1-2-3, with the overall leader ending the special stage in second place. The American ended the day 32 seconds behind his French teammate as he extended his lead in the overall rankings.
The final podium position was taken by Chile's Pablo Quintanilla, who ended the day, four minutes and 19 seconds off the pace set by Van Beveren. KTM's Toby Price took fourth place today with the Aussie KTM rider ending the stage, six minutes and 34 seconds behind Honda's Van Beveren.
Rounding off the top 5 was the Hero 450 Rally ridden by Ross Branch. The rider from Botswana ended the stage six minutes and 59 seconds off the pace as he dropped quite a bit of time in the overall standings.
The two Sherco riders had a good day in the saddle with Portugal's Rui Goncalves finishing the day 13:09 behind Van Beveren in 11th place. His teammate, India's Harith Noah, ended the day in 14th overall, 16:50 behind Van Beveren. Noah also ended the day in 4th place in the Rally 2 class, 3:56 behind the KTM of Bradley Cox.
In the overall rankings, Honda's American rider Ricky Brabec leads Dakar 2024's motorcycle category with an overall time of 40:53:49. Hero's Ricky Brabec is now seven minutes and nine seconds behind in second while today's winner Adrien Van Beveren has taken over the third spot and is 11:26 adrift of his teammate.
India's Harith Noah is still the fastest of the two Sherco bikes at Dakar 2024. The Sherco TVS rider from Kerala is still 13th overall, 02:35:51 behind Brabec. In the Rally 2 class, Noah remains third overall but is just 22 seconds behind the rider in second place. He is still 11:18 behind the lead Rally 2 bike of Dumontier.
Sherco's Rui Goncalves is continuing to climb up the rankings with the rider from Portugal now in 24th overall. However, he has no chance of winning the Dakar as he is still 06:29:20 behind Brabec.
In some sad news from the Dakar, Spanish rider Carles Falcon, has passed away. Falcon was riding for TwinTrail Racing at this year's Dakar when he crashed out near the end of stage 2 and had to be airlifted to a hospital. He was later shifted back home to Spain, where he was in intensive care before passing away yesterday.
Cars
French rally legend Sebastien Loeb continued his blitz across the Saudi sands today as he claimed his fourth stage win of Dakar 2024. The 9-time WRC champion crossed the finish line in 04:17:33 as he clawed back more time in the overall rankings from Carlos Sainz.
Speaking of Sainz, El Matador had the way ahead of him mapped out with the help of teammates Mattias Ekstrom (who won yesterday's stage) and Stephane Peterhansel (second in Stage 8). With his teammates helping him, Sainz ensured that the time lost to Loeb was minimal, ending the day, four minutes and 14 seconds behind his French rival.
It was another French driver who completed the podium today with Century Racing Factory team's Mathieu Serradori ending the day four minutes and 43 seconds behind Loeb's Prodrive Hunter.
Peterhansel was the faster of the two remaining Audis with the Frenchman ending the day in sixth place, 10:34 seconds behind Loeb. Mattias Ekstrom was the final Audi on the timesheets, ending the day in 8th overall, 14 minutes and eight seconds adrift of Loeb.
In the overall rankings, Audi's Carlos Sainz continues to lead the cars category of Dakar 2024 with a time of 37:50:57. The Spanish legend may have lost a bit of time to Loeb but he still leads the French WRC icon by 20:33 with three stages left in the rally.
Toyota's Brazilian driver Lucas Moraes occupies the final podium spot but has no chance of winning Dakar 2024 as he is currently 01:12:02 behind Sainz.
Final Thoughts On Dakar 2024 Stage 9
Stage 9 of Dakar saw Honda grab a 1-2-3 in the bikes category with France's Adrien Van Beveren leading Ricky Brabec and Pablo Quintanilla in the timesheets as Sebastien Loeb claimed the top honours in the cars category to win his 4th stage of Dakar 2024.
In the overall standings, Ricky Brabec extended his lead over Hero's Ross Branch to over 7 minutes after a week and a half of close duelling across the Saudi desert. In the cars category, Sebastien Loeb cut into Carlos Sainz's lead atop the standings but with El Matador enjoying the defensive help of Audi teammates, things do not look rosy for Loeb's chances of winning the Dakar.
Tomorrow's stage will see competitors travel a 612-kilometre loop around the city of Alula. The rocky route which includes a timed 371km special stage has been described as devilishly difficult.
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