Dakar Rally 2016 Stage 8 Results
Following the one and only break of Dakar Rally 2016 in Salta, Argentina, the action resumed Monday for stage 8 of the challenge that will take riders 6,000 miles through South America.
Dakar Rally 2016 Stage 8 took riders 475 miles from Salta to Belen with a 393-mile timed special. The quickest rider once again was Red Bull KTM’s Toby Price, who earned his fourth-stage win Monday.
But he also took over the lead by 2:05 ahead of Team HRC Honda’s Paolo Goncalves. Price took the win aboard his KTM 450 Rally after navigating the sand dunes and finishing the timed special in 4:33.14.
Finishing third, over five minutes behind, was Goncalves. Taking third on Monday during Dakar Rally 2016 Stage 8 was Husqvarna’s Pablo Quintanilla of Chile, who was over six minutes behind.
After finishing the stage, Price said “The first part started out on big open roads and I think we dropped a little bit of time there. But just getting through it was a pretty fast track so we were looking forward to the second part where it was going to get more technical and more difficult. We did pretty well in the sand dunes and we pushed through the navigation.”
The Australian cautiously confirmed that he was getting more comfortable and more confident with the navigation but underlined that there was still a long way to go to the finish at Rosario.
As for the American Ricky Brabec on the Team HRC Honda CRF450 Rally, he finished 14th, just under 20 minutes behind. The Dakar rookie is in an impressive 11th overall after eight of 13 stages.
“It was a tough day with the heat and with what we had waiting for us on the track. The first part was really fast and the second part was much more technical with a lot of navigation. I stopped to see if I could help out Michael, but when he saw that I wasn’t able to do a lot, he told me to carry on. The second part was really difficult with 90% of the navigation in soft sand. In the end I stopped to help a rider who had fallen. I’m happy to have finished well and tomorrow will be another day,” Brabec says.
Tuesday’s stage consists of 271 miles, with a timed special of 177 miles.
Dakar Rally 2016 Stage 9 Terrain (courtesy of Honda)
This loop stage will not really be one for motorbikes and quad bikes, which will finish the first part of this second marathon stage in an isolated bivouac. Prior to this they will have spent the day, alongside the drivers in the other categories, almost entirely off-piste, both in the vegetation-scattered dunes and on harder terrains, sometimes on river beds. Physically, the day might prove to be a significant challenge, as the mercury soars. The hardiest drivers will also be those who are the most clear headed, able to make the right navigational choices, a major challenge of this special section.
Dakar Rally 2016 Stage 8 Results (top five):
1. Toby Price (AUS), KTM, 4 hours, 33 minutes 14 seconds
2. Paolo Goncalves (POR), Honda + 5 minutes 17 seconds
3. Pablo Quintanilla (CHI), Husqvarna + 6.32
4. Stefan Svitko (SVK), KTM, + 8.02
5. Kevin Benavides (ARG), Honda + 8.06
Dakar Rally 2016 Overall Results after Stage 8
1. Price + 27 hours 28 minutes 56 seconds
2. Goncalves + 2 minute 05 seconds
3. Svitko + 14.14
4. Quintanilla + 21.26
5. Benavides + 25.55
