Honda spearhead Tosha Schareina wins the eleventh Dakar stage – Daniel Sanders (KTM) has only a nine-minute lead before the last day
On the penultimate day of the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia, Tosha Schareina has blown an attack. The Honda driver took the stage eleven victory and reduced his deficit on KTM spearhead Daniel Sanders to nine minutes.
Thursday was the last long and possibly decisive day. A 553-kilometre loop had to be covered in the desert around Shubaytah. The special stage was originally 321 kilometres long.
Due to fog, the start of the stage had to be delayed because the rescue helicopters could not fly at first. The start was delayed, but the finish for the motorcycles was set at the refuelling stop after 152 kilometres.
The route for motorcycles and cars was again separate. That’s why yesterday’s top riders braked to get a rear starting position. Sanders started eleventh and Schareina wanted to use his last chance from 17th place.
The rear starting positions were once again an advantage. Schareina rode full throttle and secured his first stage victory this year. The Spaniard beat Sanders by seven and a half minutes, almost halving his overall deficit in the process.
In the day’s standings, Luciano Benavides (KTM) and Adrien van Beveren (Honda) finished second and third, less than a minute behind Schareina. Both also made up time on Sanders.
Van Beveren, in third place, is just under 16 minutes behind. Benavides, in fourth place, is 22 minutes behind. Title defender Ricky Brabec (Honda) is in fifth place, almost half an hour behind.
In the Rally2 classification, Mathieu Doveze (KTM) took the stage victory. Edgar Canet (KTM) is on course for victory in the overall standings. His lead over Austrian Tobias Ebster (KTM) is 35 minutes.
On Friday, the rally will end with a short loop south of Shubaytah. The special stage is only 62 kilometers long.
Result of the 11th stage (top 10):
01. Tosha Schareina (Honda) – 2:12:04 hours
02. Luciano Benavides (KTM) +0:33 minutes
03. Adrien van Beveren (Honda) +0:57
04. Ricky Brabec (Honda) +3:48
05. Jose Ignacio Cornejo (Hero) +6:02
06. Daniel Sanders (KTM) +7:31
07. Mathieu Doveze (KTM) +7:36
08. Toni Mulec (KTM) +7:56
09. Stefan Svitko (KTM) +12:10
10. Skyler Howes (Honda) +12:44
General classification after 11 of 12 stages (top 10):
01. Daniel Sanders (KTM) – 52:12:24 hours
02. Tosha Schareina (Honda) +9:00 minutes
03. Adrien van Beveren (Honda) +15:50
04. Luciano Benavides (KTM) +22:16
05. Ricky Brabec (Honda) +28:35
06. Skyler Howes (Honda) +41:29
07. Jose Ignacio Cornejo (Hero) +56:59
08. Edgar Canet (KTM) +1:38:09 hours
09. Tobias Ebster (KTM) +2:14:17
10. Stefan Svitko (KTM) +2:14:46