After two long, exciting weeks, the 2024 Dakar Rally comes to its last stage. It won’t be a tough one, but there are still fights going on for the overall win in some categories. Therefore, it could be decisive anyway.
Stage 12 is going to be 174 km long, and those who are chasing the leader will try anything to close the gap as much as possible.
Bikes
Stage 12 will be extremely important for the general rankings’ leader Ricky Brabec. Meanwhile, Adrien Van Beveren and Ross Branch will have the difficult task of reducing the gap and overtaking him for the win of the 2024 Dakar.
It was a close race between the three, but the stage winner was Kevin Benavides, ahead of Toby Price and Luciano Benavides.
In the general rankings, Brabec managed to defend his lead, winning the second Dakar of his career. Branch clinched a podium position for the first time, finishing second 10′ 53″ behind. Van Beveren was third, with a gap of 12′ 25″.
Quads
The race for the win was still open in the quads’ category, too. Manuel Andujar was the leader before the start of the stage, 8′ 14″ clear of Alexandre Giroud.
The Frenchman was leading the stage after 130 km, but Andujar was close behind, with just 45 seconds separating them. The latter was managing to keep the lead in the general standings.
In the end, Giroud managed to win the stage, but it wasn’t enough to overtake Andujar in the standings. The latter won the Dakar by 7′ 59″. Juraj Varga completed the podium, more than 4 hours back.
Cars
In the cars’ category, Carlos Sainz could almost already taste the victory even before the start of Stage 12. The Spaniard admitted not being in a rush thanks to the gap he had to second place in the standings.
Sebastien Loeb, who was in contention for the win until yesterday, can only fight for a podium spot after an unlucky Stage 11.
The Frenchman took his redemption after yesterday, winning the stage ahead of de Mevius and Zala. However, it was Sainz who could celebrate the most. The Spaniard won the Dakar ahead of de Mevius and Loeb by 1 hour 20′ 25″ and 1 hour 25′ 12″.