Dakar 2024: The Toughest Dakar in Recent History?

[MotoNews]

Published in: News

Written by Willem Avenant | Photos by Amaury Sport Organization

This was the year that Dakar brought back the flare of racing days past. An absolute behemoth of a race, the toughest of the tough, and the best of the best dueled it out in Saudi Arabia.

The rally kicked off with a bang, with the prologue time counting towards the overall. There was a tricky waypoint in the prologue, and the penalty for missing it put many riders back before the race proper even started.

Stage 1 was won by Ross Branch on his Hero, giving a good cushion to lead the race overall for the next three stages, when Nacho Cornejo snatched the overall lead from him briefly in Stage 4. Branch reclaimed the overall lead after Stage 5, only to be dethroned by the uber-consistent Ricky Brabec on his Honda. Brabec was consistently second in the overall ranking, doing a spectacular job at showing how to manage a top spot in a rally like this.

By far the biggest talking point of the race this year was the Stage 6 A and B 48-hour “Chrono” stage, where riders had to cross 835 km of huge soft dunes over two days, overnighting in the desert in tents and living off military rations.

After the grueling 48-hour Chrono stage, the riders had a rest day, and it was time to take stock.

By the halfway mark, 22 riders were forced to retire. Most notably:

• Stage 1 Tosha Schareina from Honda and Joachim Rodirguez from Hero
• Stage 3 saw Gas Gas’s Sam Sunderland exit the race with a mechanical problem, as well as Sebastian Buhler on his Hero.
• Stage 6 brought a myriad of problems, Mason Klein who was plagued with mechanicals on his Kove, fought a valiant fight but had to retire due to a mechanical issue, as well as Honda’s Skyler Howes, and Hero’s Joan Barreda Bort, leaving Branch as the only Hero rider left in the race.

At the end of Stage 7, only 1 second separated Brabec and Branch. To put that in perspective, that equates to 24 meters (or 12 motorbikes strung together end to end) after 2,865 km of racing. This is the narrowest margin after eight specials since the Dakar first came to Saudi Arabia in 2020.

Brabec was able to hold on to his lead, riding with exceptional skill, all the way to the end, widening the gap between him and Branch to 10 minutes by the end of the extremely rocky Stage 11.  Stages 9 and 10 were dominated by the Hondas, taking all three top positions of each stage. With Branch being the only Hero left in the race, he was surrounded by the red bikes, pretty much alone in the wilderness.

Stage 12—the final of the race—was short, and nobody was going to take any chances.

After two weeks of racing Ricky Brabec on his HRC Honda took overall victory for a second time, despite only winning one stage of the rally.

It's interesting to note that the lead of 10 minutes and 53 seconds—marking Honda's triumphant return to the Dakar winner's circle—closely mirrored the time Brabec surrendered to Branch during the initial test between Al-Ula and Al-Henankiya, placing the American rider instantly at a disadvantage in his ninth appearance at Dakar.

This will be the first time Hero is on the podium of the Dakar Rally, thanks to the amazing ride by Ross Branch, and Adrien van Beveren performed superbly at this rally, fighting hard and getting the third podium spot on his HRC Honda.

This year's Dakar saw KTM descending to the position of the third-ranked manufacturer. Kevin Benavides, astride the premier factory bike, concluded the race 38 minutes adrift from the leader, securing fourth place. Following closely, Toby Price trailed an additional 7 minutes behind, securing the fifth position. In our recollection, this is the first time in 20 years that KTM was not on the podium. There has been some scuttlebutt about this year’s bike not being up to snuff, but it’s unclear whether that was the main factor in KTM’s lack of performance.

Luciano Benavides, piloting the leading Husqvarna, secured the sixth position, but his chances for victory were extinguished on Stage 5 when he encountered a mechanical problem.

Photo Credit: Rally Zone | KTM Factory Racing

Completing the top 10 were Daniel Sanders from GasGas in eighth place, Stefan Svitko in ninth, and Martin Michek in tenth.

It is worth noting Sherco's performance, that was spearheaded by the youngster Harith Noah, claiming victory in the Rally2 Class and concluding the overall rankings in the 11th position. Harith vowed not to look at the results during the race, so he will no doubt either be pleasantly surprised or might he be questioning his decision, knowing he was only 6 minutes from a top 10 finish.

Here are the American riders who finished the 2024 Dakar:

• Ricky Brabec - overall bike winner for the second time, previously 2020
• Kyle McCoy - Original by Motul, third American in history to finish Malle Moto, the toughest class at the Dakar.
• Weston Carr - 1st Dakar
• Jacob Argubright - 2nd Dakar

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Willem Avenant is a rally rider, roadbook maker, digital roadbook developer, and organizer of roadbook training camps. As ADVMoto’s Rally Editor, he likes to share his love, passion, and philosophy on rally racing. He is currently training and fundraising for a run in the 2025 Dakar Rally. Instagram @willemavenant, Facebook @wilemavenant282

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