Photo: Facebook | Dakar.com
Australian Toby Price offered KTM one more stage victory as he did not miss the opportunity created by the crash of Honda rider Paulo Goncalves. Price reached the stage's finish line in Belen more than 5 minutes ahead of the Portuguese rider, and thus stepped in the lead of the overall ranking after eight legs of the 2016 Dakar.
Goncalves suffered a very nasty crash while crossing an uneven, sandy section. However, the Honda man was exceptionally lucky to escape the crash without any injury, and his bike only suffered minor damage.
According to the Portuguese rider himself, his motorcycle only broke the "tower," the main support on which the navigation instruments are mounted. Even if the damage looks incredibly small compared to the violent crash, Goncalves had to ride carefully to the end of the stage, sometimes holding the structure in place with his hand, thus avoiding damaging cables and all.
In the end, Goncalves managed to reach the finish line with no more incidents and now sits two minutes behind Price in the overall rankings.
Yamaha' best rider of the day was Helder Rodrigues, in the sixth position, while rookie Meo got a bit lost in the dunes and was eighth, behind Farres Guell and almost 11 minutes adrift the leader. Sherco's Pedrero Garcia was ninth, and Yamaha rider Van Beveren rounded the top ten.
The other two riders we are watching, Laia Sanz and the promising Mani Gyenes finished Stage 9 in the 18th and 23rd position, respectively. In the overall ranking, Price is leading from Goncalves by two minutes, with Svitko 14 minutes adrift, Quintanilla and Benavides also having to deal with 21 and 26-minute gaps.
Stage 9 is also a Marathon leg, with 151 km (94-mile) liaison and 285 km (177-mile) special stage around Belen.
According to the Portuguese rider himself, his motorcycle only broke the "tower," the main support on which the navigation instruments are mounted. Even if the damage looks incredibly small compared to the violent crash, Goncalves had to ride carefully to the end of the stage, sometimes holding the structure in place with his hand, thus avoiding damaging cables and all.
In the end, Goncalves managed to reach the finish line with no more incidents and now sits two minutes behind Price in the overall rankings.
Husqvarna finishes third in Stage 9 with Quintanilla, who moves into the fourth position overall
Husqvarna's Pablo Quintanilla was around a minute slower to cross the finish line than Goncalves, followed by KTM's Svitko and Honda's Benavides for the top five. With this excellent performance, Quintanilla now sits fourth in the overall ranking, still some seven minutes behind Slovakian Svitko.Yamaha' best rider of the day was Helder Rodrigues, in the sixth position, while rookie Meo got a bit lost in the dunes and was eighth, behind Farres Guell and almost 11 minutes adrift the leader. Sherco's Pedrero Garcia was ninth, and Yamaha rider Van Beveren rounded the top ten.
The other two riders we are watching, Laia Sanz and the promising Mani Gyenes finished Stage 9 in the 18th and 23rd position, respectively. In the overall ranking, Price is leading from Goncalves by two minutes, with Svitko 14 minutes adrift, Quintanilla and Benavides also having to deal with 21 and 26-minute gaps.
Stage 9 is also a Marathon leg, with 151 km (94-mile) liaison and 285 km (177-mile) special stage around Belen.
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