The Dakar rally has not yet reached the mid-race rest day, but Honda’s Joan Barreda is already out of the running, and a couple other top riders were knocked out of the race yesterday.
Barreda was impressive in the early stages this year, combining blazing speed with strategy to rocket towards the top of the standings. Were it not for penalties, he would have had a commanding hold on first place. But all that speed is of no consequence now, as a mechanical failure early in Stage 6 meant Honda’s Paolo Ceci towed Barreda for much of the day, putting Barreda hours behind the frontrunners — hours he cannot hope to make up.
Details on the bike’s failure are slim, although there is some conjecture it might have been electrical. Whatever the problem, Honda isn’t giving any explanation. Ironically, Barreda’s woes came on the day the racers hit the Uyuni salt flats, the same area that torpedoed his chances last year.
KTM’s Toby Price once again won the stage, leading from start to finish. Price is gaining a reputation as the world’s best off-road racer, and his performance at Dakar is astonishing. He can’t yet be compared to past “aliens” like Cyril Despres and Marc Coma, but if he keeps up this performance, he will be the rider to assume their mantle.
Matthias Walkner (KTM) finished second in Stage 6, and Paulo Goncalves (Honda) was third. Goncalves remains in first place overall, and given his consistent finishes, he looks as if he will once again be Honda’s top rider, barring mechanical catastrophe. Whether he, or anyone else, can keep in front of Price is another question.
Although Barreda can’t contend for the overall win at this point, he can still contribute to his team’s effort by winning individual stages and creating general mayhem, or even towing Goncalves if there are more breakdowns. And that’s better than several other competitors can say, as more riders joined the withdrawal list yesterday.
Top KTM riders Ruben Faria and Ivan Jakes were both forced to withdraw yesterday. Jakes was banged up after crashing in Stage 5, and tried to start Stage 6, but was unable to ride due to his injuries, forcing him to bow out. Faria, a podium favourite and even potential winner this year, broke his wrist in a crash and is gone as well. Seven riders left the race today, the most so far.
Another top rider who saw bad luck torpedo his day was Kevin Benavides (Honda). Although Benavides’ performance in his first Dakar has been the stuff of legends, the rookie rider managed to lose significant time today when his instrument tower fell apart.
He rode single-handedly, holding the tower together, until wiring shorts killed his engine, forcing him to stop and make repairs. Until that point, Benavides had been on a tear, making the failure all the more irksome. If both Barreda and Benavides see their races ruined by mechanical factors outside their control, it’s going to look even worse on Honda, a team that already has a reputation keeping riders away.
Today’s stage sees racers head from Uyuni to Salta, where Benavides’s home is located. It’s Benavide’s birthday, and tomorrow is the rest day, meaning he can actually have a mid-race birthday party at home, and sleep in his own bed, if he wants …
Dakar Stage 6 results
- Price (KTM) 05:51:48
- Walkner (KTM) 05:52:53 (+00:01:05)
- Goncalves (Honda) 05:53:00 (+00:01:12)
- Svitko (KTM) 05:56:32 (+00:04:44)
- Rodrigues (Yamaha) 05:57:11 (+00:05:23)
- Arana (Husqvarna) 05:59:47 (+00:07:59)
- Brabec (Honda) 06:00:04 (+00:08:16)
- Van Beveren (Yamaha) 06:00:35 (+00:08:47)
- Botturi (Yamaha) 06:01:07 (+00:09:19)
Overall standings
- Goncalves (Honda) 20:23:07
- Price (KTM) 20:23:42 (+00:00:35)
- Walkner (KTM) 20:25:57 (+00:02:50)
- Svitko (KTM) 20:28:24 (+00:05:17) (00:01:00 penalty)
- Quintanilla (Husqvarna) 20:38:17 (+00:15:10) (00:01:00 penalty)
- Benavides (Honda) 20:44:11 (+00:21:04)
- Meo (KTM) 20:46:09 (+00:23:02)
- Farres (KTM) 20:48:59 (+00:25:52)
- Duclos (Sherco TVS) 20:49:16 (+00:26:09)
