Chilean rider Pablo Quintanilla (Honda) recovered after a poor fourth stage this Wednesday, where he finished 19th and Won on the fifth day of Dakar 2024The race in which Botswana Ross Branch (Hero) regained the motorcycle lead by 74 seconds over Chilean Nacho Cornejo (Honda) and Spaniard Joan Barreda (Hero) crashed out despite managing to finish the stage.
Quintanilla, with a time of 1 hour 32 minutes and 53 seconds, He survived the 6-minute penalty in the third set. This caused him to lose the stage he won on Monday and prevented him from closing in on the lead, where Branch, Cornejo and American Ricky Brabec (Honda) are now fighting for by less than four minutes.
Barreda, who completed the race 10 minutes and 25 seconds behind Quintanilla, suffered a cut on his nose and went directly to the Vívac medical hospital as soon as the stage ended. The severity of the fall is unknown at this time.
The drivers started later than usual, partly because this was the shortest stage of the Dakar. They barely ran 118 kilometers on the day of the crossing This is between a ‘half marathon’ on Monday and Tuesday and a 48-hour time trial starting on Thursday and finishing on Friday.
Although at the first ‘way point’ (reference point), the Chilean rider was more than three minutes off the best stage, marked by second-place finisher Frenchman Adrien van Beveren (Honda), the South American was already leading on the second stage, and the Saudi had tried to throttle in the dunes. After quitting, he finished the race 37 seconds ahead of the Frenchman.
Leader Branch also recovered very well after a bad first stage. Despite being eleventh at the first crossing point, he finished sixth and took the lead from the unlucky Chilean Cornejo this Wednesday to finish thirteenth, more than six minutes behind his compatriot.
Another big improvement was the success of very young American driver Mason Klein (Korr Offroad Racing), who finished fifth after starting the fifteenth stage. In fact, the American continues to show its superior level in two-wheeled vehicles day by day. Mechanical problems hindered his overall chances. Despite everything, this Wednesday he rose nineteen places to thirty-sixth.
With this Wednesday’s victories, Quintanilla moved from seventh to sixth in the general classification. 26 minutes 47 seconds from Branch. Monday’s penalty and a poor performance on Tuesday hurt his chances of victory in the general classification, but if he maintains the consistency he showed at the start and picks up another victory, the Chilean is set to become one of the favorites once again.
This was the previous stage 48 hour period, This week is a day unknown to the drivers and the organisation. Motorcycle riders will travel more than 600 kilometers in two days They will have to sleep in a tent in the middle of the desert and will only have “military-style” food rations.