Jean Turner | January 11, 2016
Racing resumed in Dakar today as did the back and forth shuffle between race leaders Toby Price and Paulo Goncalves. At the close of Dakar Rally Stage 8, Red Bull KTM’s Toby Price had regained the lead over the HRC rider by taking a five-minute victory in Stage 8. With his stage win, Price now leads the overall ranking by just over two minutes.
Ever cautious and humble, Price isn’t too excited about his win, commenting, “It was never perfect. We still made a couple of little errors in there. I think we got a little bit lucky.
“It’s been a good day. We’re in first at the moment, but anything can happen between now and then. With Paulo [Goncalves], me and him are battling It’s pretty much day for day. We take time off each other and I think it’s going to come down to minutes and seconds by the end of the week. He’s a real strong competitor and he’s got a lot more navigation skills than I do, but we’re trying our best and keeping ourselves in front as much as we can.”
After a rough high-speed get-off in today’s stage, Goncalves is fortunate to still be within reach of Price – not to mention still in the race at all. His sandy swap-out was caught on video, and Goncalves showed some impressive fortitude by quickly scrambling back to his feet and jumping back on his CRF450 RALLY after being thrown from the bike.
“In the middle of the stage on the [off-road] area with a lot of bumps I had a crash,” Goncalves recalled. “I was lucky not to have any injuries. The bike only broke a little on the tower. At the end I needed to ride more slowly to fix the tower back on with my hand and avoid breaking the cables while trying to finish as best as possible.
“For the moment the damage is not really bad because I finished, but it could have been serious if the tower had broken completely. Maybe the bike would have stopped. But luckily it’s a strong bike and I finished well.”
Goncalves also commented that he was glad it didn’t happen during a marathon stage. Tomorrow riders will embark on the second marathon stage of the rally, where they will not be able to perform any maintenance on the bikes overnight.
Navigation got tougher for the riders in Dakar Rally Stage 8, which took them into the dunes for the first time in the rally. Warmer temperatures also challenged the riders during the 476-mile stage, which included a 244-mile special. As the winner of Stage 7, Red Bull KTM’s Antoine Meo led the way, and although he carded an eighth-place finish on the day, was thrilled with his navigational success.
American rider Ricky Brabec soldiered on, also showcasing good navigational prowess through the tricky stage. The young HRC rider showed both good speed and sportsmanship, finishing 11th in the stage and also stopping to help a downed rider.
“It was a tough day with the heat and with what we had waiting for us on the track,” Brabec said. “The first part was really fast and the second part was much more technical with a lot of navigation. The second part was really difficult with 90% of the navigation in soft sand. In the end I’m happy to have finished well and tomorrow will be another day.”
American riders Alexander Smith, Ian Blythe, Scott Bright and C.R. Gittere are all still in the mix, advancing in the general ranking with steady resolve. In and update from the Husqvarna HT Rally Team – which Smith and Gittere are riding out of – they comment that “Alexander is going really steady. He started easy but is now warmed up. The longer the stages are, the more he enjoys it and his results improve day by day.”
Regarding Gittere, the team update reads, “C.R. Gittere is going steady in 83rd position. He’s getting into his rhythm and doesn’t show any signs of fatigue. The thousands of miles he rode in the U.S. and his very precise preparation is paying off.”
Tomorrow’s stage is shorter, but with plenty of difficulty in store for the riders with difficult navigation through mostly off-road terrain, and more high temperatures awaiting them. The stage will end at an isolated bivouac in the second marathon section of the rally.
Dakar Rally Stage 8 Results:
- Toby Price (KTM) 4:33:14
- Paulo Goncalves (Hon) +5:17
- Pablo Quintanilla (Hus) +6:32
- Stefan Svitko (KTM) +8:02
- Kevin Benavides (Hon) +8:06
- Helder Rodrigues (Yam) +9:19
- Gerard Farres (KTM) +10:47
- Antoine Meo (KTM) +10:50
- Juan Pedrero (Shr) +11:08
- Adrien Van Beveren (Yam) +15:07
- Ricky Brabec (Hon) +16:44
- Laia Sanz (Hon) +24:42
- Ian Blythe (KTM) +36:56
- Alexander Smith (Hus) +1:13:59
- Scott Bright (KTM) +2:12:21
- C.R. Gittere (Hus) +3:12:23
General Ranking after Dakar Rally Stage 8:
- Toby Price (KTM) 27:28:56
- Paulo Goncalves (Hon) +2:05
- Stefan Svitko (KTM) +14:14
- Pablo Quintanilla (Hus) +21:26
- Kevin Benavides (Hon) +25:55
- Antoine Meo (KTM) +28:44
- Helder Rodrigues (Yam) +30:51
- Gerard Farres (KTM) +37:32
- Juan Pedrero (Shr) +39:41
- Alain Duclos (Shr) +45:11
- Ricky Brabec (Hon) +51:39
- Laia Sanz (Hon) +1:06:06
- Ian Blythe (KTM) +2:28:59
- Alexander Smith (Hus) +4:45:38
- Scott Bright (KTM) +6:41:40
- C.R. Gittere (Hus) +10:25:48