After a grueling two weeks and 14 stages, the 45th Dakar Rally is finally over. The tightest race in Dakar history came down in the bike class. Kevin Benavides seized the lead over Toby Price by just 43 seconds. The win marks the narrowest margin in Dakar history.
“It’s been an amazing day! I just focused on every kilometer from the first to the last. I didn’t think about the position or the result I just gave my 100 percent over the whole stage and tried to enjoy the day. The special was really fast and tricky, and so muddy – thankfully I didn’t make any big mistakes, but it would have been easy to have an issue out there today. I have worked so hard for this. This year’s rally has been one of the closest ever and there wasn’t a single day where you could afford to ease off. I couldn’t have done it without the support of my team, and all my family and friends. It’s going to take a little while to sink in, I can’t describe this feeling right now,” said Benavides.
In the T3 class, Austin Jones has enjoyed the lead in the overall rankings for the last week so all he needed to do was finish stage 14 to bring home the final victory.
There wasn’t too much to talk about in the car class as Nasser Al-Attiyah grabbed an early overall lead and never looked back. Al-Aittyah stayed consistent with several top 5 finishes to help cement his position. The Qatari has started the Dakar 20 times, winning five overall victories.
