KTM’s Meo Wins Dakar Rally Stage 8; Yamaha’s Beveren in Overall Lead (Video)

By
Ron Lieback
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KTM's Meo Wins Dakar Rally Stage 8
KTM's Toby Price and Antoine Meo

2018 Dakar Rally Results, Stage 8 Motorcycles (Video Recap)

Saturday’s stage 7 in 2018 Dakar Rally began a two-day marathon stage, which means riders couldn’t receive any assistance from team members and had to ride Sunday’s stage 8 with the same tires.

Monster Energy Honda’s Joan Barreda Bort claimed stage 7, but it was Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Antoine Meo who claimed the win Sunday. The timed special consisted of 309 miles in wet and slipper conditions, and Meo was able to navigate with precision.

KTM's Meo Wins Dakar Rally Stage 8
KTM’s Toby Price and Antoine Meo

The Frenchman finished the time special in 5H 24:01, 1:08 minutes ahead of Monster Energy Honda CRF 450 Rally pilot Ricky Brabec. Taking the final podium position in Stage 8 of Dakar Rally was Meo’s temamate Toby Price; he finished 2:45 minutes behind.

“I am really happy with my performance today,” Antoine Meo says. “Right from the beginning my plan was to push and try to regain some time on the leaders. I felt really good today, despite the conditions and the length of the special, I didn’t make any mistakes. With tomorrow’s stage cancelled it puts me in the unfortunate position of having to open Tuesday’s stage in the dunes of Argentina. It is always a slight disadvantage to open stages like that, but I’ll do my best and see where I can finish.”

Meo is now sixth overall after eight of stages, 9:56 minutes behind the leader – Yamalube Racing Yamaha’s Adrien van Beveren, who leads Monster Energy Honda’s Kevin Benavides by 22 seconds. In third overall is another Red Bull KTM 450 Rally pilot, Matthias Walkner, who is 6:34 minutes back.

“It is great that we keep the lead at the end of this extremely difficult marathon stage, Adrien van Beveren says. “The rain, the mud and the high altitude made things really hard for us these last two days. It was really exhausting physically but I managed to get two good stage results.

“Yesterday I was second and then today I pushed hard and managed to stay close to the leading group. For big parts of the special stages yesterday and today I found myself opening the tracks. I am feeling great so far on my bike and I also have a great feeling with my navigation. I can be fast while also avoiding navigational mistakes and that is crucial for the coming stages as well. I feel that I’ve put the pieces of the puzzle together and now I know what I need to do during the coming stages.”

KTM's Meo Wins Dakar Rally Stage 8; Yamaha's Beveren in Overall Lead (Video)
Yamaha’s Adrien van Beveren

As for the Americans, Brabec is eighth overall, 31:58 minutes behind van Beveren. Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Andrew Short is 23rd overall, 2H 23:31 minutes behind.

Monday’s stage 9 was canceled, official Dakar reports saying: “The organizers of the Dakar had no choice but to cancel stage 9, which was supposed to take place between Tupiza and Salta on Monday. Weather conditions in the area in the last few days are preventing assistance crews from refurbishing race vehicles for tomorrow’s stage after the demanding marathon stage. The field of the Dakar will therefore head to the Salta bivouac by road. The rally will resume with stage 10 from Salta to Belén.”

2018 Dakar Rally Overall Results, Motorcycles (after 9 of 14 stages):

Pos. N° Exp. Drive-Team Mark-Model Time Variation Penality
1 4
ADRIEN VAN BEVEREN
 YAMALUBE YAMAHA OFFICIAL RALLY TEAM 27h 22′ 03”
2 47
KEVIN BENAVIDES
 MONSTER ENERGY HONDA TEAM 27h 22′ 25” + 00h 00′ 22”
3 2
MATTHIAS WALKNER
 RED BULL KTM FACTORY TEAM 27h 28′ 37” + 00h 06′ 34” 00h 01′ 00”
4 8
TOBY PRICE
 RED BULL KTM FACTORY TEAM 27h 29′ 38” + 00h 07′ 35”
5 5
JOAN BARREDA BORT
 MONSTER ENERGY HONDA TEAM 27h 30′ 04” + 00h 08′ 01”
6 19
ANTOINE MEO
 RED BULL KTM FACTORY TEAM 27h 31′ 59” + 00h 09′ 56” 00h 01′ 00”
7 9
STEFAN SVITKO
 SLOVNAFT RALLY TEAM 27h 53′ 58” + 00h 31′ 55” 00h 01′ 00”
8 20
RICKY BRABEC
 MONSTER ENERGY HONDA TEAM 27h 54′ 01” + 00h 31′ 58”
9 3
GERARD FARRES GUELL
 HIMOINSA RACING TEAM. 28h 00′ 02” + 00h 37′ 59”
10 40
JOHNNY AUBERT
 GAS GAS MOTORSPORT 28h 32′ 05” + 01h 10′ 02” 00h 04′ 00”
11 33
DANIEL NOSIGLIA JAGER
 HT RALLY RAID HUSQVARNA RACING 28h 40′ 42” + 01h 18′ 39”
12 10
PABLO QUINTANILLA
 ROCKSTAR ENERGY HUSQVARNA FACTORY RACING 28h 47′ 26” + 01h 25′ 23”
13 60
JONATHAN BARRAGAN NEVADO
 GAS GAS MOTORSPORT 28h 52′ 58” + 01h 30′ 55” 00h 05′ 00”
14 15
LAIA SANZ
 KTM FACTORY RACING TEAM 28h 53′ 28” + 01h 31′ 25” 00h 02′ 00”
15 68
JOSE IGNACIO CORNEJO FLORIMO
 MONSTER ENERGY HONDA TEAM 28h 55′ 13” + 01h 33′ 10”
16 77
LUCIANO BENAVIDES
 KTM FACTORY RACING TEAM 28h 59′ 16” + 01h 37′ 13” 00h 03′ 00”
17 29
DANIEL OLIVERAS CARRERAS
 HIMOINSA RACING TEAM. 28h 59′ 42” + 01h 37′ 39”
18 61
ORIOL MENA
 HERO MOTOSPORTS TEAM RALLY 29h 05′ 00” + 01h 42′ 57”
19 27
DIEGO MARTIN DUPLESSIS
 MEC TEAM 29h 14′ 46” + 01h 52′ 43” 00h 10′ 00”
20 12
JUAN PEDRERO GARCIA
 SHERCO TVS RALLY FACTORY 29h 17′ 31” + 01h 55′ 28” 00h 01′ 00”
21 17
ARMAND MONLEON
 DAMING RACING TEAM 29h 21′ 17” + 01h 59′ 14”
22 44
RODNEY FAGGOTTER
 YAMALUBE YAMAHA OFFICIAL RALLY TEAM 29h 41′ 34” + 02h 19′ 31”
23 54
ANDREW SHORT
 ROCKSTAR ENERGY HUSQVARNA FACTORY RACING 29h 45′ 34” + 02h 23′ 31”
24 18
ALESSANDRO BOTTURI
 BOTTURI ALESSANDRO 29h 49′ 13” + 02h 27′ 10”
25 34
MARC SOLA TERRADELLAS
 HIMOINSA RACING TEAM. 30h 51′ 05” + 03h 29′ 02”

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