Dakar Stage 10: KTM Retains Its Crown

Published January 18, 2019
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Aravind KP becomes the second Indian to finish Dakar; Hero’s Oriol Mena grabs a successive top 10 finish

Aravind KP in his third outing becomes the second Indian to finish Dakar.
He finishes 37th overall.
KTM retains its crown, with now 18 titles in the bag.
Hero’s Oriol Mena grabs a second successive top 10 finish.

The 41st edition of the Dakar Rally came to an end yesterday, with Aravind KP becoming the second Indian rider to finish the gruelling rally, after CS Santosh. After two unsuccessful attempts in 2017 and 2018, the Sherco TVS rider upped his game for his third assault by setting the 42nd quickest time in the final 86km special towards the finish line. He finished 37th overall.

Hero’s Oriol Mena clinched a second successive top 10 finish with an impressive overall 9th position finish. Meanwhile, his teammate Joaquim Rodrigues had to struggle in the first half, causing him to drop outside of top 30. But a quick recovery ensued in the final stages, helping him finish 12th with an overall 17th position finish.

The title was still up for grabs until the very last 10 kilometres of the stage, with Toby Price (KTM Factory) and Pablo Quintanilla (Husqvarna) separated by only a minute. But as luck would have it, the Husqvarna rider suffered a crash, making him lose 8 precious minutes. This allowed KTM to grab their 18th title and Toby Price his second Dakar win.

Rank	Team	Rider	Time
1	KTM	Toby Price	33:57:16
2	KTM	M. Walkner	+00:09:13
3	KTM	S. Sunderland	+00:13:34
9	Hero Speedbrain	O. Mena	+02:08:41
17	Hero Speedbrain	J. Rodrigues	+05:21:19
37	Sherco TVS	Aravind KP	+15:51:27

While KTM again asserted its dominance in the Moto category, Toyota grabbed its Dakar title yesterday with Al-Attiyah behind the wheel. This is his third title, with the Qatari previously having won titles with Volkswagen in 2011 and again with Mini in 2015, before switching to Toyota Gazoo Racing.

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Nasser Al-Attiyah had been leading the general classification since day one. That said, he was also helped by the series of misfortunes his other rivals encountered. By the last stage, Al-Attiyah had gained a healthy lead of 46m42s over his nearest rival, Nani Roma (X-Raid Mini), the runner-up of the competition. Finishing third was nine-time world rally champion Sebastien Loeb in his PH Sport-run privateer Peugeot 3008 DKR.

Rank	Team	Rider	Time
1	Toyota	N. Al-Attiyah	34:38:14
2	Mini	M. Walkner	+00:46:42
3	Peugeot	S. Sunderland	+01:54:18

The 2019 Dakar has easily been one of the toughest edition yet, with never-ending dunes and more. Going into next year, there are rumours floating around that the Dakar rally might move back to Africa. If true, next year’s edition has the potential to be the toughest one yet. To stay updated with all the development, watch this space.

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