Although the order shuffled from yesterday, Stage 10 was another dominated Monster Energy Honda sweep! After playing it smart for the first half of the 2024 Dakar Rally, Ricky Brabec won Stage 10 outright. Although it was a tough navigational challenge, the former Dakar winner and teammate Adrien Van Beveren had to break trail for the peloton of pros behind them… and never looked back! Along the way, the teammates picked up critical time bonuses as they shared trailblazing duties for the first 100 km.
“The day was good although the navigation wasn’t easy,” admitted Brabec from the bivouac. “In the first 50 km I was riding into the sun so that was difficult and then once I’d caught Adrien we rode together the whole way. We made some little mistakes here and there, but we came out in a good position for tomorrow and the last day. With two days left we have a little bit of a lead so let’s see what happens tomorrow.”
The Stage wasn’t as easy as Brabec made it look. With a total riding distance of 609 km and a 371 km special that included fast sandy plateaus, some off-piste sections to really test riders’ navigation skills the race organizers added a plot twist to confuse the road book readers: there were still tracks on the route from Stage 1 and the Prologue which could really disorientate a rider… just ask Pablo Quintanilla. After getting caught out with the navigation, Quintanilla rode with Brabec’s chief rival Ross Branch and another former winner Toby Price to the end of the stage having to settle for 11th on the day..
The penultimate day looms on the horizon as the battle for the podium positions continues as they head east to Yanbu, across rugged terrain from AlUla where the Red Sea will greet the riders at the end of a draining 480 km special stage.
Dakar Results – Stage 10
Pos. Rider Nation Team Time/Gap
1 BRABEC Ricky USA Monster Energy Honda Team 03:51:39
2 CORNEJO José Ignacio "Nacho" CHI Monster Energy Honda Team +0:02
3 VAN BEVEREN Adrien FRA Monster Energy Honda Team +0:20
4 SANDERS Daniel AUS Gas Gas Factory Team +0:47
5 BENAVIDES Luciano ARG Husqvarna Factory Racing +2:33
6 BRANCH Ross BWA Hero Motorsports Team Rally +3:45
7 BENAVIDES Kevin ARG Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team +4:31
8 PRICE Toby AUS Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team +6:48
9 GONÇALVES Rui POR Sherco TVS Rally Factory +8:02
10 MICHEK Martin CZE Orion Moto Racing Group +9:10
