TOBY PRICE has taken his second Dakar title, taking KTM’s Dakar winning-streak to 18 years in a row.
The 31-year-old Australian completed today’s final 70 mile (112km) special stage in just 1h 14m 16s, 2m 21s ahead of Honda’s Jose Ignacio Cornejo Florimo and 2m 31s ahead of Matthais Walkner.
The win was more than enough to secure the victory for Price, and he was joined on the Dakar podium by fellow KTM riders Matthais Walkner and Sam Sunderland, 9m 13s and 13m 34s off his winning pace respectively.
It appears 2017 winner Sunderland successfully appealed against the 60 minute penalty he was handed yesterday, after being accused of deliberately causing his Iritrack system to crash. The Brit regained the position he deserved in the classification.
Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Pablo Quintanilla, who finished yesterday in second on the general classification, waved goodbye to a podium place after a nasty crash ahead of today’s WP1, which resulted a 22nd place finish on the last stage, almost 20 minutes behind Price. However, the Chilean’s earlier prowess paid off, and he still managed an overall four place, 20m 46s behind Price. Quintanilla’s American teammate, Andrew Short, was fifth, 44m 10s behind Price.
The Benavides brothers – Luciano and Kevin – finished todays stage in fifth and sixth position, 3m 20s and 3m59s off the pace respectively. Luciano, of the Red Bull KTM Factory team, finished the Dakar in eighth, 1h 9m 10s off the pace, while Honda rider Kevin managed 12th, 3h 41m 14s off the pace, which included a 3h 15m penalty from reportedly concealing extra notes on Stage 8.
After finishing today’s stage in 15th, Red Bull KTM’s Laia Sanz just missed a top ten spot, and ended the rally in 11th, 3h 24m 10s off the pace. Sanz is a consistently fast rider, and easily the best female rider in the game.
And that’s the Dakar over for 2019. 10 intense days of racing, culminating in today’s 223 mile (359km) sprint. We can only admire the courage, determination and sheer stamina of the racers, and relive the event through the dozens of awesome clips online.
