BIKES News Dakar stage 13 17.01.2016:

Dakar Rally 2016
January 16th - stage 13 - 180km
Villa Carlos Paz to Rosario



    10:14 : Motorcycles: Méo's hardship is over

    Finally! Antoine Méo, clearly diminished by yesterday's fall, dug deep in his suitcase of courage to finish the last special. The Frenchman was 53rd today, more than 48 minutes behind the stage winner. The huge gap shows just how much the official KTM rider must have suffered.

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    09:50 : Motorcycles: Toby Price claims his first Dakar

    That's it! Toby Price (KTM) won the Dakar for the first time after finishing the 180 km final special in fourth place. Price was third in his first Dakar start last year and filled the leader's boots left by Marc Coma.


The rider from New South Wales dominated the race throughout to become the first Australian winner of the Dakar. It's also the fifteenth Dakar win in a row for the Austrian maker.



    09:47 : Motorcycles: Quintanilla takes a honourable win


    Chile's Pablo Quintanilla (Husqvarna) won the 180 km closing stage of the 38th Dakar, beating Kevin Benavides (Honda) and Hélder Rodrigues (Yamaha).



    09:26 : Motorcycles: Quintanilla still in control

    Pablo Quintanilla's time at CP1 (km 157) shows he's hunting for a stage win today. The Chilean posted the fastest time in the motorcycle category, ahead of Kevin Benavides and Hélder Rodrigues, with Adrien Van Beveren close behind.


Antoine Méo is still suffering. 51 minutes after the leader, Méo wasn't among the top 70 riders at CP1.



    08:47 : Motorcycles: Méo hanging in there

    The closing stage is an ordeal for Antoine Méo. The Frenchman was already losing over 11 minutes to the leader at the first waypoint (km 45 approx.). The size of the gap shows that the five-time world enduro champion is suffering from the consequences of yesterday's fall.



    08:35 : Motorcycles: Quintanilla calls the shots

    About 45 km into today's special, Pablo Quintanilla (Husqvarna) holds the fastest time ahead of his direct rival in the general classification, Kevin Benavides (Honda). The Chilean was 13' faster than the Argentinian. With 4'19' between them in the overall, are they really going to fight until the final kilometre of the 38th Dakar?



    08:12 : Motorcycles: a Dakar between them

    The last rider in the motorcycle classification, Oswaldo Burga, is currently in the final 180 km special of his maiden Dakar. The Peruvian hasn't really had a hellish time in the race, and he is now sitting 84th and dead last in the classification, over 54 hours behind leader Toby Price. A gap of over 8 hours compared with the Australian's race time. In other words, Price could have completed two Dakars before Oswaldo finished one.


    07:29 : Motorcycles: The bee hangs on

    Sylvain Espinasse is set to complete his challenge in his third Dakar start. The Frenchman, the only rider on a two-stroke 125 cc motorcycle, has been through hell in this edition. Technical problems, late arrivals at the bivouac and the ensuing fatigue weren't enough to knock the man with the Husqvarna 125 out of the race. However, he's not likely to repeat the experience soon



    07:09 : Motorcycles: We're off!

    It's one last effort for the 84 motorcycles and 23 quads on the start line this morning. The special has just begun. The competitors will start their trek to Rosario in reverse general classification order. The chance to catch a breather and bask in the glory of finishing the Dakar is just 180 timed kilometres away.



    07:06 : Motorcycles: Laia Sanz digs into her suitcase of courage

    The four-time enduro world champion started the Dakar with the aim to finish in the top 10. Unfortunately for the Spaniard, a fall put paid to her hopes two days ago. Laia broke her collarbone, but she is hanging on tough to reach Rosario.


After showing most of her male rivals what's what in the general classification, the KTM rider now shows how tough she is. She finished the longest stage of this year's edition yesterday, so she looks certain to come up with the strength she needs to complete today's 699 km stage. What a woman!



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