Kevin Benavides has won his first Dakar stage on four wheels in the Challenger category, hours after his brother Luciano won the motorbike stage. It is the first time ever that two brothers have won a stage in different categories on the same day. In the SSV class, Jeremías González Ferioli claimed his first victory in a spectacular Can-Am 1-2-3.
It was a historic day for the Benavides family. Luciano won the motorbike stage with almost five minutes to spare, after which Kevin followed his brother with victory in Challenger. They are the first pair of brothers to win a stage in different categories on the same day.
Kevin dominated the 459-kilometre special to Wadi ad-Dawasir. He took the lead at kilometre 178 from Dania Akeel with just seven seconds advantage. At kilometre 233 that had grown to 24 seconds, at kilometre 295 to 1:28 and at kilometre 375 he had a 4:46 advantage over his new challenger Yasir Seaidan.
First victory on four wheels
For Kevin, it’s his first Dakar victory on four wheels, although he does have thirteen victories on a motorbike to his name. He ultimately won by 4:39 over Seaidan (including 0:30 penalty) and 5:40 over Nicolás Cavigliasso. Akeel finished fourth at 6:50 (including 0:10 penalty).
Akeel led at kilometre 30 by 30 seconds over Benavides, but lost ground in the second half of the stage. The Saudi driver is still chasing her first stage win of this year after three podium finishes in the first week.
Navarro retains lead
Pau Navarro retains the lead in the overall classification despite a one-minute penalty. Cavigliasso is second at 2:48, Lucas del Rio third at 29:09 (including 0:50 penalty) and Seaidan fourth at 43:20 (including 1:30 penalty).
Dutch performances
Puck Klaassen was still in third place at kilometer 30, 37 seconds behind, but ultimately finished tenth at 10:37. She is sixth in the rankings at 1:42:10. Paul Spierings finished ninth at 8:58, occupying 12th place in the overall standings, 3.5 hours behind. Pim Klaassen finished 13th today at 17:20, Kees Koolen finished 16th at 20:38 and is still tenth in the overall standings. Koolen is only 10 minutes behind 8th place, so the experienced rider can look forward to the coming days.
Dick van Culenborg finished 24th, one hour behind. Lex Peters took 28th place, one and a half hours behind, and Riné Streppel is in 29th place, ten minutes behind. Henri van Steenbergen started the seventh stage but had to stop several times. His deficit at the finish line was 3:16:50.
Can-Am dominates SSV podium
In the SSV category, Jeremías González Ferioli claimed his first Dakar victory in a spectacular finish. Can-Am occupied the entire podium: Ferioli won by just seven seconds over Kyle Chaney and nine seconds over João Monteiro. Brock Heger finished fourth at 32 seconds. The top four were within 32 seconds.
It was a thrilling duel until the end. At kilometre 295, Heger had just 18 seconds advantage over “Chaleco” López, who ultimately finished sixth with an 8:10 penalty.
Heger retains lead, De Soultrait drops back
Heger retains the lead in the classification with now a 40:43 advantage over Chaney. Xavier de Soultrait experienced a dramatic day and finished twelfth at 24:37 (including 2:00 penalty). He drops from second to third place at 44:15. Chaney climbs to second place and is now just 3:32 behind De Soultrait.
Monteiro is fourth at 45:26 (including 0:20 penalty) and Gonçalo Guerreiro fifth at 1:05:21. Can-Am placed six cars in the top ten of the stage and dominates the podium, while Polaris continues to lead the overall classification with Heger.
The only Dutchman in the SSVs is Wouter Rosegaar, navigator for Richard Aczel. They finished 21st today at 51:18 and are currently 14th overall.
