Today, Sunday, January 15, 2023, the Saudi-Dakar rally competition will end with the fourteenth stage, which will run from Hofuf to Dammam, over a distance of 406 km, including 270 km at the connecting stage and 136 km at the connecting stage. the special stage is time dependent. Today, Dammam will witness the closing ceremony and the culmination of the winners of all categories of the rally on the platform of the Saudi Dakar Rally 2023 at the King Abdulaziz Itra Center for World Culture.
The thirteenth stage of the Saudi Arabia Dakar Rally 2023 AD came to an end yesterday, as its competition took place from Sheiba to El Hofuf over a distance of 673 km, of which 520 km is the connecting stage, and 153 km is the special stage, taking into account the timing.
Sébastien Loeb of France, driver of the Bahrain Red Extreme team, continued his distinction by taking first place for the sixth consecutive time and seventh in this edition in the car category, clocking two hours 26 minutes and 17 seconds. Second place was taken by Qatari Nasser Al-Attiyah, driver of the Toyota Gaza team, with a difference of 5 minutes 28 seconds, and Sweden’s Matthias Ekström, driver of the Audi team, came in third with a difference of 6 minutes and 31 seconds.
Qatari Nasser Al-Attiyah completed his possession of first place, one hour, 21 minutes and 42 seconds behind second place Frenchman Sebastian Loeb, while Brazilian Lucas Morais, Overdrive driver, retained third place, one hour. 35 minutes and 50 seconds behind the leader.
Argentinian Kevin Benavidez of the Red Bull KTM team took first place in the motorcycle category with a time of 2 hours 21 minutes and 47 seconds, while his brother Luciano Benavidez of the Husqvarna team came in second. , by 57 seconds, despite receiving a penalty time for speeding in the speed limit zone, while Kevin received compensatory minutes; at 23 minutes 10 seconds; In exchange for stopping and assisting the injured Mathias Walkner, Frenchman Adrien van Beveren of Team Monster Energy finished third, 2 minutes and 5 seconds back.
Kevin Benavidez leads the overall standings in the motorcycle category, 12 seconds behind Toby Price, with Team Husqvarna rider Skyler Hawes, a minute and 31 seconds behind them.
Austrian Mattias Walkner, a Red Bull KTM rider who won the title in this category in 2018, had an accident 55 km after the start of the special stage, as he was transferred to the medical center after suffering from back pain, according to American rider Mason Klein .Team Red Bull KTM, the winner of the second stage in this edition, is withdrawn from the rally after two accidents on the ninth stage.
In the ATV category, Tagator Racing’s Marcelo Medeiros of Brazil managed to take his fourth victory in a row with a time of two hours 55 minutes and 48 seconds, beating Chile’s Giovanni Enrique of the racer. of the Enrico Racing team for a minute and 35 seconds, and the Argentinean Francesco Moreno, the rider of the Drag team on Rally”, took third place with a difference of 3 minutes and 11 seconds.
France’s Alexandre Giroud of Team Yamaha retained first place overall in this category, 40 minutes and 20 seconds ahead of second Francesco Moreno, with American Pablo Copete trailing them in third place, two hours, one minute and 46 seconds. lagging behind the leader.
Mitchell Guthrie of the Red Bull Offroad Junior team took first place in the T3 desert light car category with a time of two hours, 41 minutes and 8 seconds, followed by Yamaha’s Chilean Ignacio Cazale. The X-Raid team is in second place with a difference of only 50 seconds. Behind them was American Seth Quintero, the pilot of the Red Bull Offroad Junior team, in third place, 57 seconds behind the leader.
American Austin Jones retained the overall lead in this category, 54 minutes ahead of his compatriot Seth Quintero, while Belgian G Rally driver Guillaume de Mevius finished third by one hour, 33 minutes and 28 seconds.
Saudi Saleh Al-Saif, driver of the Black Horse team, was able to maintain sixth place in this category, which is the best for a Saudi driver, especially since he is participating in the Dakar Rally with an all-Saudi crew.
In the T4 desert light commercial vehicle category, Pole Eric Gotzal, driver of the Energy Landia Rally Team, managed to take first place in this category in a time of 2 hours 35 minutes and 13 seconds, ahead of Lithuanian Rukas Pacsushka, driver of the Red Bull Can -Am, with a difference of 4 minutes 19 seconds, and the Saudi Yasser bin Saedan, the pilot of the South Racing Can-Am team, was third, with a difference of 9 minutes 56 seconds.
Lithuanian Rokas Pasiushka is still leading the overall standings, 3 minutes and 24 seconds behind Pole Eric Gochal, while Pole Marek Gochal is third overall, 23 minutes and 1 second behind the leader.
Czech Martin Macek, driver of the MM Technology team, recorded his name first in the truck category with a time of 3 hours, two minutes and 43 seconds, ahead of Dutchman Janus van Kasteren of De Roy, 3 minutes 30 seconds back, in he is followed by the Czech Jaroslav Walter, driver of the De Roy team, Tatra Bagera ZM Racing, 10 minutes and 31 seconds back.
Janus van Kasetrin of the Netherlands managed to maintain his lead, one hour 16 minutes and 42 seconds ahead of Czech Martin Macek in second place, while Dutchman Martin Van Denbrink remained in third place, two hours 43 minutes and 3 seconds back. leader who suffered a mechanical problem after 59. How many special stages to lose more time and fall to third place.