Dakar Rally 2023 final stage - as it happened, news and quotes 15.01.2023: DAKAR RALLY 2023 Saudi-Arabia Stage 14 from AL-HOFUF to DAMMAM Sunday, January 15th 2023 The Dakar has taken the field on a trip around the Red Sea coast several times, including at the beginning of the 2023 edition, which will come to a c

DAKAR RALLY 2023
Saudi-Arabia
Stage 14 from AL-HOFUF to DAMMAM
Sunday, January 15th 2023






The Dakar has taken the field on a trip around the Red Sea coast several times, including at the beginning of the 2023 edition, which will come to a close on the shores of the Arabian Gulf.


This is an unusually fast beach special with little to no room for big changes in the standings. The competitors just need to bring it home to join the celebrations on the seafront podium.





Van Kasteren wins the truck race | T5
10:57

Janus van Kasteren has finished the special just over 6 minutes down on Jaroslav Valtr and sealed the deal in the fight for the truck title. The Dutchman and his Iveco succeed the Kamaz armada, which had claimed every single trophy since 2017.

 


Jones grabs second title in a row | T3
10:55

The 2022 T4 champion, Austin Jones, was the most consistent driver in the lightweight prototype category this year. The American took advantage of the setbacks experienced by some of his opponents, including Mitch Guthrie, Seth Quintero and Guillaume de Mevius, to win the title in Dammam by over 50 minutes.




Macík ahead at the halfway point | T5
10:31

Martin Macík leads at km 68. The Czech is putting 27" into Jaroslav Valtr and 36" into Pascal de Baar. Janus van Kasteren, trailing by about two minutes in the stage, is closing in on the title.




Eryk Goczał comes out on top in his Dakar debut! | T4
10:28

Rokas Baciuška lost almost 25 minutes in the final section, costing him the title by just over 15! Eryk Goczał is therefore the winner of the Dakar SSV race on his first attempt. It is a historic day for the Goczał family, as Eryk's father, Marek, also took advantage of the calamity that befell Baciuška to move up to second overall. Baciuška finished on the bottom step of the podium for the second year in a row, within 30 seconds of Marek.




Chicherit takes the finale | T1
10:24

When it's not Sébastien Loeb, it's another Prodrive driver who wins. No-one was faster than Guerlain Chicherit in the final special of the 45th Dakar, which he took by 1'36" over Mattias Ekström, who guaranteed an Audi presence at the finish, and 1'44" over Henk Lategan.




Eryk yo-yoing behind Baciuška | T4
09:47

Eryk Goczał was over 3 minutes behind Rokas Baciuška at km 68, but the Pole has narrowed the gap to 1′36″. No cause for concern for Baciuška at the moment, but Goczał is not giving up!




Jones chugging along | T3
09:43

Ricardo Porem has gone through km 33 with the best time so far, under 30 seconds ahead of Mitch Guthrie and Cristina Gutiérrez. Austin Jones is chugging along at just over a minute and a half. A shade over 100 km stand between Jones and his second Dakar victory in a row.



Fabulous five for Al Attiyah | T1
09:37

Nasser Al Attiyah and his co-driver, Mathieu Baumel, have got it in the bag. The Qatari drove conservatively to retain his considerable lead over the duo of Sébastien Loeb and Fabian Lurquin and snap up his fifth Dakar title. He now pulls ahead of Ari Vatanen in the all-time classification, with only Stéphane Peterhansel (eight wins) above him.  




Ekström wraps up the Dakar | T1
09:21

Mattias Ekström has just reached the finish of the special with the best provisional time, ahead of Sébastien Loeb and Nasser Al Attiyah. We are now waiting for Guerlain Chicherit, the leader at the previous checkpoint, to know who won the stage.



Broken engine for Serradori | T1
09:17

Mathieu Serradori is in trouble after the engine of his Century buggy gave up the ghost at km 10. He is waiting for his teammate Brian Baragwanath, who started later, to tow him. Serradori and his co-driver, Loïc Minaudier, were second in the two-wheel drive standings, 2'30" behind leader Wei Han, before this special.




Macík gets the show on the road | T5
09:15

Martin Macík won the penultimate stage and moved up to second overall yesterday. The Czech benefited from the bad luck of Martin van den Brink, who lost two hours due to a broxen gearbox. Barring any dramatic turn of events, Janus van Kasteren, starting in second place, ought to convert his solid lead into a place on top of the podium at the finish.




Baciuška gets some breathing room | T4
09:07

Rokas Baciuška went through the first checkpoint in second place, gaining just under 50 seconds on his rival for the title, Eryk Goczał. Yasir Seaidan leads the stage ahead of Baciuška.




Romain Dumontier first in Rally2 | R2
09:01

As expected, Romain Dumontier and his HVA HT Rally Husqvarna Racing have won the Rally2 category. He also finished 14th overall (17th in 2022). There are seven consecutive Rally2 bikers in the general standings. Paolo Lucci, second at 32′14″ from the Frenchman, was faster than the top rookie of this edition, Michael Doherty, third at 1h 16′43″. 4 Frenchmen follow just outside the Rally2 podium, starting with Nomade Racing's Jean-Loup Lepan, 17th overall and top-ranked junior rider of this edition. Neels Théric, Julien Jagu and Mathieu Dovèze round out the top 20.




Chicherit topples Lategan from first place | T1
08:57

Guerlain Chicherit, the ninth driver out of the gate this morning, has leapfrogged Henk Lategan to take the lead by 31 seconds. Mattias Ekström is now third within 45 seconds.




Honda's VBA and Quintanilla just outside the podium
08:51

The 2022 runner-up, Pablo Quintanilla, has finished this year's edition just outside the podium, 19 minutes behind the winner. His teammate Adrien Van Beveren, fourth last year, came in fifth this time round, 1 minute further down the rankings. Luciano Benavides (HVA), who has won three specials over the last fortnight, and Daniel Sanders (GasGas) were sixth and seventh, respectively, within 3 minutes of VBA.






Kevin Benavides wins the Dakar by 43 seconds! | GP
08:44

Kevin Benavides has clinched the special, 55 seconds ahead of Price in third place. The Argentinian beat the man from Down Under to win his second Dakar (after 2021)! Skyler Howes came in third at 5′04″.




Lategan restores his honour | T1
08:39

Henk Lategan, second overall until bad luck struck a few days ago, holds the fastest time at the first checkpoint, a mere 13 seconds ahead of Mattias Ekström and 17 seconds clear of Jakub Przygoński. Sébastien Loeb is conceding half a minute to Lategan, with Nasser Al Attiyah right behind the Frenchman at 1′16″.






Kevin Benavides crosses the finish line | GP
08:38

The 45th Dakar is done and dusted for Kevin Benavides, as well as Skyler Howes. We are now waiting for Toby Price.

 




The T3 race is on | T3
08:35

Mitch Guthrie is leading the charge after picking up his fifth stage win yesterday. The American is no longer in the mix for the title after disaster struck earlier in the race. Austin Jones, starting in ninth place today, tops the leader board by close to an hour over Seth Quintero.




Price narrows the gap | GP
08:28

Kevin Benavides still holds the fastest time at km 102, but Price, third in the stage, has gained 20 seconds since km 68, which means he now trails the Argentinian by 1′37″. Benavides leads the virtual overall by 1′17″ over Price. 34 km left to go.





Duel in the desert for Baciuška and Eryk Goczał | T4
08:15

Eryk Goczał is not giving in. The young Pole left everything on the track yesterday in a bid to narrow the gap between him and the overall leader, Rokas Baciuška. Goczał won the final stage in the Empty Quarter and erased more than four minutes of his deficit, leaving him with 3′24″ to make up in the finale.






The special goes to Kancius and the title to Giroud! | Q


08:11

Alexandre Giroud just needed to make sure to finish the race to claim his second title, and that he did, with seventh time in the stage, about a quarter of an hour down. He follows in the footsteps of the Argentinian Alejandro Patronelli (2011 and 2012) as the second rider to win the most prestigious rally raid on Earth two times in a row.


Laisvydas Kancius set the fastest time in the special to take his second win of the year and finish the 45th Dakar ahead of Marcelo Medeiros (+4′11″) and Pablo Copetti (+6′05″).




Al Attiyah hours away from his fifth title | T1
08:10

Yesterday's runner-up, Al Attiyah, is advancing towards his fifth title with nary a bump on the road. Finishing behind Loeb also contained the damage in the W2RC, which awards points to the top 5 in each stage. "For the championship, it is important to do well, like we did today, because it nets us points in the fight against Séb, who's cranking out one stage win after another", said Al Attiyah yesterday.


"Finishing right behind him limits the difference to 1 point, but what is really important to me is winning the Dakar. The race was great for us, now we just need to bring the title home."




Kevin Benavides storms into the lead at km 68 | GP
08:07

Kevin Benavides has gained some more time on Toby Price at the second checkpoint (km 68). He now leads the stage by 1′49″ and the virtual overall by 1′37″ over his teammate.






Tie-breaking rule
08:01

What if Price and Benavides are tied on time at the finish of the special, as was the case at the first checkpoint? The same rule applies as in earlier specials (except for the prologue): the top-ranked competitor in the previous special wins. That would be Kevin Benavides, who claimed yesterday's stage.




Loeb revving up | T1
08:00

Sébastien Loeb scored his sixth consecutive stage win yesterday —an absolute record in the premier car category of the Dakar. However, he is still second overall, 1 h 21 behind Nasser Al Attiyah, who will be following him on the track today. Loeb has a snowball's chance in hell of winning the rally today, but he is poised to stand on the podium for the fourth time in seven starts.




Price and Benavides in a dead heat at km 33
07:47

Kevin Benavides went through the first checkpoint at km 33 with 12 seconds in hand over Price —his exact deficit to the Australian in the overall!


The two KTM factory riders are now in a dead heat. Skyler Howes is losing 1′40″ to Benavides in seventh place. Price and Benavides are locked in a no-holds barred contest with no team instructions in place. Sport is awesome!




Price brings up the rear | GP
07:20

Toby Price, fourth in the penultimate stage yesterday despite a minor crash and his navigation woes, managed to defend his place at the top of the general standings, where the Australian currently leads Kevin Benavides by 12″ and Skyler Howes by 1′31″. The race is still up in the air, but the KTM biker is in the pole position…





Howes still in with a shout | GP
07:10


Skyler Howes, seventh yesterday, is still third overall, 1′31″ behind Toby Price. While he does not fancy his chances of turning back the tide today, the two KTM factory riders ahead of him are just 12″ apart, raising the possibility that they could take one another out.


"The last stage is going to be very fast and not really enough to make up valuable time. The result today will define the outcome of the race", he said yesterday.






Benavides 12 seconds from Price
07:10

After starting in fifth place yesterday, Kevin Benavides stopped at km 55 to help his teammate Matthias Walkner, who had just crashed. The Argentinian got back on his bike over 20 minutes later and went flat out all the way to the finish.

After the time spent with Walkner was deducted, he was declared the winner of the stage. Second overall at 12 seconds, Benavides could earn his second title today: "There's only one day left and I can only do my best. The outcome will be decided at the finish."







"Santo" and Caimi under way
07:09

Lorenzo Santolino, the last Sherco works rider still in the race, started behind his Hero MotoSports counterpart Franco Caimi. The Spaniard, who as usual is a safe pair of hands on the handlebar, navigated the pitfalls encountered by many other factory riders.


Ninth overall, 1 h 10 behind the leader, the French constructor's biker is likely to finish in the top 10 of the Dakar again. The Argentinian is tenth overall, 20 minutes behind "Santo", and first of the three riders for the Indian constructor still in the race. In a few minutes, these two bikers will give us an indication of what awaits the pros in the quagmire reported at km 29.




Van Beveren fourth overall | GP
07:05

Adrien Van Beveren was on the business end of things throughout yesterday's stage. He eventually finished fourth, also defending his fourth place overall a quarter of an hour behind Toby Price. While the final podium seems beyond reach, the Frenchman has not said his last word.


"I think it's my best Dakar, with a very solid performance", he said yesterday. "There's still one day left, so let's fight until the end."




Dumontier zeroes in on victory in Rally2 | R2
06:47

Romain Dumontier and Michael Docherty went wheel to wheel in the penultimate stage. "My teammate Docherty, who lives in Dubai and is used to the dunes, caught up with me", the Frenchman wrote on Facebook. "We then rode together until the finish.


We set a fast pace in the dunes, so we spent three quarters of the special first and third." Dumontier, who eventually finished second in Rally2, just over 2 minutes behind the South African, is still in the lead by half an hour over Paolo Lucci.






Mud at km 29 | GP
06:37

Many bikers are currently stuck at km 29 of today's special. Mud is hindering their progress and many are losing valuable time. One last hurdle before the finish!





Moore in command of the Original by Motul race | R2
06:25

Charan Moore set the fastest time in yesterday's special in the Original by Motul category, almost 20 minutes ahead of his main rival, Javi Vega. The South African moved into the overall lead by more than 17 minutes over the Spaniard, with Mário Patrão over an hour back in third. Moore has just blasted into the special.





Medeiros gets going | Q
06:00

The 10 quads still in the race are about to get to grips with the 136 km special. Marcelo Medeiros, the winner of the last four stages, is leading from the front again. Next up will be the Argentinian Alejandro Fantoni, racing in his second Dakar (the first in Saudi Arabia) with the ambition to make it to the finish. Alexandre Giroud, the last quad rider to start, is just a few hours away from a second consecutive title…





Starting order reversed in the motorbike category | GP
05:50

In accordance with the Dakar rules, the bikers will start the special in reverse order of the general standings, which means Kevin Benavides will start second-last and Toby Price will bring up the rear. Both KTM factory riders, separated by a mere 12 seconds, will benefit from the tracks of the rest of the field, paving the way for a mad dash to the line. Price is chasing his third title (after 2016 and 2019 with KTM) and Benavides his second (after 2021 with Honda).





Saldaña Goñi leads the charge | R2
05:50

"At age 41, my childhood dream has finally come true", said Ruben Saldaña Goñi ahead of his first participation. The Spaniard may be dead last in the standings, but he is still coming through. He has the honour of opening the road today, followed by China's Zhang Min.








- ASO also photo -