Former winner Ricky Brabec emerged from the dunes as the overall leader of the Dakar Rally after the infamous 48 hour “Chrono Stage” which saw riders basically on their own in the Empty Quarter. In a desert the size of France, the stage challenged riders physically, basic food rations, no assistance, no phones and a night on the sand in a tent also added to their depleted energy levels… just how Brabec likes it! “There was a lot of time in the dunes but I didn’t mind that as the challenge of going for many hours and kilometres made it a lot of fun. Camping with the boys was a blast, we had a really good time last night although we didn’t get much sleep.” He finished the 48 Hour Chrono Stage third, just behind teammate Adrien Van Beveran and climbed into the lead heading into Saturday’s rest day.
With lower average speeds across the epic dunes, the riders had one goal and that was to get to the end of this 626km stage back at Shubaytah without making any mistakes… including fuel consumption. Pablo Quintanilla was just ten kilometers short of the first refueling point when his Honda CRF450 RALLY ground to a halt. Despite managing to get some fuel, he finished in 12th, nearly two hours behind teammates Van Beveren and Brabec.
A fan of the whole 48 Hour Chrono experience, it was a solid third place finish for a sleep deprived Ricky Brabec, as it now sees him in the overall lead with a narrow 51 second gap over Hero Motorsports Team Rally’s Ross Branch. “The stage was 100% dunes but it was really cool and I hope they do something like this again,” said Brabec from the liaison. “Rocks and open deserts are a bit better for me and with the dunes I really pushed but I also played it safe towards the end as I didn’t want to open Stage 7. I’m in a good place going into next week, so let’s see what happens in the next six days.
DAKAR RALLY PROVISIONAL STANDINGS AFTER STAGE 6
Pos. Rider Num Nation Team Time/Gap
1 BRABEC, Ricky USA Monster Energy Honda Team 27:11:21
2 BRANCH, Ross BWA Hero Motorsports Team Rally +0:51
3 VAN BEVEREN, Adrien FRA Monster Energy Honda Team +9:21
4 CORNEJO, José Ignacio "Nacho" CHI Monster Energy Honda Team +14:14
5 PRICE, Toby AUS Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team +27:00
6 BENAVIDES, Kevin ARG Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team +28:33
7 SANDERS, Daniel AUS Gas Gas Factory Team +35:50
8 BENAVIDES, Luciano ARG Husqvarna Factory Racing +47:26
9 SVITKO, Stefan SLO Slovnaft Rally Team +01:07:42
10 MICHEK, Martin CZE Orion Moto Racing Group +01:34:24
