With Toby Price leading the general classification, with an advantage of 28″ over Howes and 2’40” over K. Benavides we arrive at the stage 13 of the Dakar 2023, the penultimate race. Today, 675 km are scheduled, which will take the riders from Shaybah to Al-Hofuf, with 153 km of timed trials in between, still characterized by lots of sand.
The first to get underway this morning is the yesterday’s winner, Nacho Cornejo, which opens the way in front of Daniel Sanders and Toby Price, who must defend his leadership in the general standings. The bonuses for the day will be calculated on all 153 km of the special, and as usual will be: 1.5 s/km for the first, 1 s/km for the second and 0.5 s/km for the third. This means that the maximum total bonus available today is just under 4 minutes. The stage begins and the difficulties begin for Cornejo, who is already losing precious minutes at the first checkpoint (km 34). The Chilean was caught up and overtaken by both Daniel Sanders and Toby Price, who started behind him.
Fourth fastest rider at first checkpoint Matthias Walkner, crashes at km 55km. The Austrian is conscious, but he has severe back pain and this requires the intervention of the medical team. His teammate Kevin Benavides remains alongside him awaiting the arrival of the emergency team, time which will then be reduced at the end of the special.
At 78 km from the start of the special, Toby Price has a 26″ lead over Howes, his direct rival in the general classification. The clock then shows a difference of only 21″ between Price and Skyler Howes at km 114, but Price, being now the forerunner is gaining further seconds thanks to the bonus system.In the final Toby Price increases his gap on Howes, who reaches 1’31”. We will have to wait, however, for Kevin Benavides to finish the stage and for us to know how much time will be returned to him for assisting Walkner.
Luciano Benavides, has the best time at the finish line of today’s special, but receives a one-minute penalty for excess speed. His brother Kevin, who came to the aid of Matthias Walkner at the start of the special, should recover 23′10″ at the request of the FIM when he reaches the bivouac. This would make Kevin the winner of the stage, with a lead of 30″ on Docherty, 2’08” on Van Beveren and 2’31” on Price.
Assuming he gets this time deduction and is not penalized with penalties during the transfer to the bivouac, Kevin Benavides is set to become the new leader of the rally, 12″ on Price and 1’43” on Skyler Howes!
As soon as confirmation of this arrives, we will update you on the matter. For this reason we are also waiting to give you the day’s ranking and the general ranking.
On the following pages you will find how the blues fared in the race, the complete classification of the stage, the general classification of the Dakar 2023some info on the next stages and how to follow the race on TV.
