Photo: dakar.com
Australian Toby Price added another stage victory to his name with his flawless performance in the second Marathon leg of the 2016 Dakar. He was the fastest rider at all the checkpoints and clawed back valuable minutes.
Third on the podium last year in his maiden Dakar edition, Price may be one of the new KTM stars after Coma and Despres, and he is already one of the strong podium contenders. Another KTM rider finished Stage 5 second, five-time world enduro champion Antoine Meo. 2016 is his first Dakar, but he surely doesn't look like a rookie.
Svitko and Walkner followed the Frenchman, with the Slovakian reducing the gap from the general leader, Goncalves. With four KTMs in the lead, Honda's best man, Barreda, could only finish fifth. His teammate Paulo Goncalves was slow in Stage 5, with a rather disappointing 12th place finish.
Husqvarna's fastest man was Pablo Quintanilla, who finished in the sixth position, while Yamaha's best rider was Helder Rodrigues, in eighth, behind KTM's Jakes. Two Sherco bikes rounded up the top ten, with Pedrero Garcia and Alain Duclos. Husky's Faria was 11th.
Joan Barreda Bort could have easily been in Goncalves' place had he not accumulated six penalty minutes already. Barreda showed a very fast pace in two stages and looks like he can easily recover the 2'27" gap from his Honda teammate.
Finally, the top five is completed by KTM's Austrian factory rider Matthias Walkner, 30 seconds behind Barreda. The gap in the first five places is less than three minutes, and with so many stages left in this rally, anything could happen.
It's only from now on that the real toughness of the bikes will start to play an important role. Engine changes are penalized, and such events can ruin the whole rally. KTM is the undisputed reliability king, while Honda has had their fair share of frustrating problems in the past. It will be interesting to see how Husqvarna will hold in the grueling conditions, because so far, the bikes are running great.
Stage 5 also took the riders at the highest altitude any Dakar Rally ever reached, with the route passing through zones at 4,600m (15,092 ft). Today's stage is a high tension loop around Uyuni, with 180 km (112 miles) of liaison and a brutal 542 km (337-mile) special stage.
Svitko and Walkner followed the Frenchman, with the Slovakian reducing the gap from the general leader, Goncalves. With four KTMs in the lead, Honda's best man, Barreda, could only finish fifth. His teammate Paulo Goncalves was slow in Stage 5, with a rather disappointing 12th place finish.
Husqvarna's fastest man was Pablo Quintanilla, who finished in the sixth position, while Yamaha's best rider was Helder Rodrigues, in eighth, behind KTM's Jakes. Two Sherco bikes rounded up the top ten, with Pedrero Garcia and Alain Duclos. Husky's Faria was 11th.
Goncalves leads the overall standings, but his advantage is minor
Paulo Goncalves is still leading the overall standings of the Dakar 2016 ahead of Stage 6, but his lead is a very frail one. Stefan Svitko is 1'45" behind him, and Toby Price is only 2 seconds slower than the Slovakian.Joan Barreda Bort could have easily been in Goncalves' place had he not accumulated six penalty minutes already. Barreda showed a very fast pace in two stages and looks like he can easily recover the 2'27" gap from his Honda teammate.
Finally, the top five is completed by KTM's Austrian factory rider Matthias Walkner, 30 seconds behind Barreda. The gap in the first five places is less than three minutes, and with so many stages left in this rally, anything could happen.
It's only from now on that the real toughness of the bikes will start to play an important role. Engine changes are penalized, and such events can ruin the whole rally. KTM is the undisputed reliability king, while Honda has had their fair share of frustrating problems in the past. It will be interesting to see how Husqvarna will hold in the grueling conditions, because so far, the bikes are running great.
Stage 5 also took the riders at the highest altitude any Dakar Rally ever reached, with the route passing through zones at 4,600m (15,092 ft). Today's stage is a high tension loop around Uyuni, with 180 km (112 miles) of liaison and a brutal 542 km (337-mile) special stage.
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