Today, Thursday, January 12, the competitions of the eleventh stage of the Saudi Dakar Rally 2023 AD started, which is a marathon stage from Sheiba to the Empty Quarter, a distance of 424 km, of which 151 km are docking. stage, and 273 km – a special stage for time Completed Frenchman Sebastien Loeb The rider of the Bahrain Red Extreme team distinguished himself by taking first place in this stage in the automotive category with a time of 2 hours 56 minutes 14 seconds, ahead of the Frenchman Guerlain Cicci, the pilot of the GCK Motorsport team ”, for two minutes and 16 seconds, and the Swede Matthias Ekström arrived. The Audi driver finished third, 2 minutes and 25 seconds back. leader.
Nasser Al-Attiyah of Qatar, driver of the Toyota Gazoo team, continued to lead the overall standings in this category, one hour and 21 minutes ahead of the Brazilian Moraes, the driver of the Overdrive team, and one hour and 30 minutes. ahead of France’s Sebastien Loeb, who finished third.
Agentinian Luciano Benavidez of the Husqvarna team took first place in the motorcycle category with a time of 2 hours 57 minutes 59 seconds, followed by Australian Daniel Sanders of the Red Bull Gas Gas team in second place. , with a difference of one minute and 38 seconds, Australian Toby Price, rider of the Red Bull Gas team, finished second, Red Bull KTM finished third, 1 minute 56 seconds behind.
American Skylar Hawes of Team Husqvarna took first place overall, 28 seconds behind him, regaining the lead with Australian Toby Price in second place and Argentinean Kevin Benavidez of Red Bull. KTM took third place with a difference of two minutes and 44 minutes per second.
Brazil’s Marcelo Medeiros of the Tagator Racing team was able to take first place in the ATV category with a time of 3 hours 50 minutes and 47 seconds, followed by France’s Alexandre Giroud of the Yamaha team, with a difference of 6 minutes and 9 seconds. Behind them is the Argentinean Francesco Moreno, the rider of the Drag team. on Rally”, became the third with a difference of 8 minutes and 36 seconds.
Francesco Alexandre Giroud increased the time difference between him and Argentina’s Francesco Moreno, who finished second, to one hour 20 minutes and 23 seconds, while Del Amo Sports by Motul’s American Pablo Copete finished third, two hours. and seven minutes behind the leader.
Manuel Andujar, rider of the 7240 team, decided to withdraw after 70 km before the start of the special stage, his motorcycle had a mechanical problem that he could not fix, as Andujar was third overall before the start of the special stage. this stage.
Team Yamaha riders were able to secure three positions in the eleventh round of the 2023 AD Saudi Dakar Rally in the T3 desert light car category after Portugal’s Ricardo Burim took first place with a time of 3 hours. , 19 minutes and 11 seconds ahead of his compatriot, Joao Ferreira is just 20 seconds behind, followed by Chile’s Ignacio Casale in third, 22 seconds back.
American Austin Jones took the lead in the overall ATV category, followed by his compatriot and teammate Seth Quintero in second place, 55 minutes and 54 seconds back, and Belgian Guillaume de Mevius of the G Rally team. , dropped to third place, an hour and 28 minutes behind after being the leader; This is due to a mechanical problem after 41 km.
Lithuanian Rokas Pacushka, driver of the Red Bull Can-Am team, was able to set the best time in the T4 light commercial vehicle category with a time of 3 hours 25 minutes and 13 seconds. , ahead of the Pole Erik Gochala, pilot of the Energy Landia Rally Team, with a difference of 37 seconds, and his father took third place with a difference of two minutes and 14 seconds.
And the Lithuanian Basyushka secured his place at the top of the overall standings, 4 minutes 17 seconds behind Erik Goksal, and 14 minutes 18 seconds behind Marek Goksal, who finished third.
Dutchman Martin Van Denbrink took first place in the truck category with a time of 3 hours 39 minutes and 52 seconds, followed by Czech Martin Masek, driver of the MM Technology team, with a time of 19 minutes and 8 seconds, and Dutchman Pascal de Bar, driver Team Rewald. Dakar is third, 18 minutes and 18 seconds behind.
Dutchman Janus van Kasteren led the truck category, while compatriot Martin van Denbrink came in second, one minute and 12 seconds behind the leader, and Czech Martin Macek retained third place, 47 minutes and 46 seconds behind the leader. .
Tomorrow, Friday, the competitions of the twelfth round will start, on the second section of the Empty Quarter marathon, which will run from the Empty Quarter to Shaiba, at a distance of 373 km, of which 188 km is a connecting stage. , and 185 km – a special stage for time.