Dakar Stage Ten (Wednesday) overview, updated results and new leader

2023 Dakar Rally – Stage 10
Shaybah – Empty Quarter Marathon

Images by Rally Zone

Stage 10 of the Dakar Rally saw riders leaving the rain and cold days behind, Wednesday featuring a special section measuring only 114 kilometres but all of that was sand.  Toby Price took it easy in playing the long game in order to get a good starting position on Thursday, finishing 16th on stage. Countryman Daniel Sanders was 11th on Wednesday’s stage and both Aussies remain inside the top ten.

Daniel Sanders – P11

“Yeah, today was pretty much full send in the dunes so that was fun, but with it being so short, something like 115 km, today wasn’t the day to be making up too much time. It seems like this part of Saudi missed the rain we had during week one as the sand is dry and a lot softer, so it took me a little while to adjust to it. But all is good. I didn’t want to finish inside the top 10 today because of the marathon stage starting tomorrow so we’re a little bit back in the pack. That was the game plan though, so yeah, looking forward to seeing what we can do over the next couple of days.”

Toby Price was the second rider to enter the day’s special, again using his skill and experience to good effect, chose to navigate carefully through the dunes to minimise any costly errors. With the leaders’ times extremely close over the short special, Toby ultimately completed the day in 16th, eight-minutes down on the leader.

Toby Price – P16

“Today was a long day – we were up at 2:30am, but then just a short special. I tried to pace myself a little today to make sure I didn’t make any big mistakes and to also get a good start for tomorrow’s longer stage. I dropped down a little in the standings, but didn’t lose too much time, and now hopefully I’m well-placed to attack tomorrow. So far so good.”

The best dune-surfers are the most experienced, as Ross Branch showed by winning the stage to Shaybah. The Botswanan trains year-round in the Kalahari Desert, which he also flies over regularly as an airliner pilot. You could say Hero MotoSports’ fresh recruit knows how to reach new heights. He has not been as consistent as he would have liked, but today he won his second special of the year, while another dune wizard, Adrien Van Beveren, was second fastest, 21s slower.

Adrien Van Beveren – P2

“This was a good day for me, much better than yesterday for sure. I gave everything, trying to be fast riding on the dunes – a terrain that I love. I really push and I am happy with the outcome. I am ok physically, unfortunately it was only one hundred and fourteen km but we have more chances in the coming days.”

Michael Docherty, one of the sensations of this Dakar, has become quite proficient at turning the lessons learned on his base camp in the Emirates into strong performances, with third place for the day.

As the seventh rider into the special following his strong performance on stage nine, Kevin Benavides was in contention for the stage win right away. Carrying good speed over the sandy terrain, the 2021 Dakar winner was just 10 seconds down on the leader by km 84. Losing a little time in the closing stages, Benavides dropped to fourth place as he crossed the line, one minute from the win but now leads the Dakar outright by 1min29s over Skyler Howes.

Kevin Benavides – P4

“Today was really short, but really tough physically as it was raced all in the dunes. I started off in seventh position and just tried to keep a nice flow through all the dunes and it felt really good. I did have one crash where I went over the handlebars, but it seems it might have had a positive effect because I only lost about one minute and that means I set of fourth into tomorrow’s stage 11.”

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After losing time in the desert yesterday following a navigational error, Matthias Walkner bounced back in style on stage 10 and posted the fifth fastest time on the demanding special.

Matthias Walkner – P5

“I had a good day today. I really like this sort of terrain and was able to make up good time across the dunes. I wasn’t pushing too hard at first because I didn’t want to lose time like I did yesterday, but then towards the end I was able to increase my pace toward the finish. I’m feeling a lot stronger now, and coming in fifth today puts me in a good place for tomorrow’s marathon stage.”

Pablo Quintanilla was sixth ahead of KTM’s Mason Klein, and teammate José Ignacio Cornejo.

Pablo Quintanilla – P6

“This was another long, long day. The stage was short but the rhythm was very high. I am glad tomorrow I will have some riders opening in the front, this can be a changing moment for the race. It will be a tremendous effort for us and for the bikes, because we are already racing for 10 days and that is quite intense. I am in full shape and keen to keep fighting.”

José Ignacio Cornejo – P8

“It was a good stage. It was a short stage but very physical. I was riding, pushing and trying to be safe at the same time. In this terrain we can not be overconfident because that’s when mistakes happen. I’m happy with my performance and have a good feeling, so I am ready to keep on fighting in the depths of the Empty Quarter.”

Franco Caimi finished the day in ninth, ahead of Daniel Nosiglia Jager, with Daniel Sanders as already mentioned 11th. Husqvarna’s Luciano Benavides was next in 12th, with teammate Skyler Howes 15th behind Martin Michek and one spot up on Price.

Luciano Benavides – P12

“Today had a really long liaison in the morning – almost 500 km ridden after a very early start. It was the first stage in the Empty Quarter and so it was full of dunes – very similar to the terrain seen in Abu Dhabi actually. I opened the whole stage and I think I did a good job. I picked up two minutes of bonus time, but of course you do lose a few minutes to the guys behind chasing the tracks. I pushed all day, trying to do my best, and I think I finished just inside the top 15, which gives me a good start position for tomorrow.”

Skyler Howes – P15

“Yeah, we knew what we were getting into coming into the Empty Quarter with all the dunes. But today, with the special being so short, I wanted to make sure I was in a good position to push on tomorrow’s marathon stage. I took things a little easier today to get a feel for the dunes and just took things a little conservatively. I did have one awesome moment where I put on some style for the helicopter but messed up the landing. All was good though and now we have a much longer day of more dunes tomorrow – I’m looking forward to it.”

Rankings after Dakar Stage 10

There’s been a reshuffle following Stage 10 of the 2023 Dakar Rally in the overall rankings, with Kevin Benavides moving into the lead, now 1m29s ahead of Skyler Howes, Toby Price dropping to third, 2m10s off leading pace but well within striking distance, even with the shorter specials.

Adrien Van Beveren sits a more distant fourth, 9m52s in arrears, followed by Pablo Quintanilla (+14m58s), Mason Klein (+15m38s), Jose Cornejo (+20m42s), Luciano Benavides (+21m44s) and Australia’s Daniel Sanders (+23m40s). That result saw Sanders knock a few seconds off the gap to the lead, but he’ll need to make bigger strides in the remaining stages to close in further.

The gap from ninth to tenth is an even bigger one from there, Matthias Walker almost 40-minutes off the overall lead.

Stage 11 Route

Tomorrow it’s time for a key and much expected moment of the race: the marathon stage at the famous Empty Quarter. The counter will mark 4,000 km of specials right after the start, taking the race into extreme endurance territory.

Along the 273 km of the selective section (added by a liaison of 151 km) there will be sand dunes of every colour.

Competitors across all categories will now be separated from their mechanics from the beginning of Thursday’s Stage 11 until the conclusion of Friday’s Stage 12 with over 450 km of desert racing to tackle head on.

Stage 10 Highlights Video

2023 Dakar Rally Stage 10 Results (Provisional)

2023 Dakar Rally Overall After Stage 10 (Provisional)

2023 Dakar Rally Schedule