The 311-km long final stage of the Dakar Rally concluded with Husqvarna rider Pablo Quintanilla emerging on top with Honda's Kevin Benavides finishing second, followed by Yamaha's Helder Rodrigues. Antoine Meo, who paid a price in the penultimate stage for escorting Toby Price followed by a fall, finished 70th in the stage today.
KTM's Toby Price, participating in Dakar for the second time, finished the stage in fourth position. This simply meant that it was enough for the Australian to claim the Numero Uno spot overall, making him the first Australian ever to win the prestigious Dakar Rally. This also meant that it was the 15th consecutive Dakar win for KTM.
Some of the interesting facts about the rally this year include the lady rider - Laia Sanz. Aiming for a top-10 finish this year, Sanz had a fall two days before the final day of the Dakar which left her with a broken collarbone. The Spaniard didn't give up post that and kept riding, finishing the longest stage of the Dakar next day. She finished 18th in the stage and 15th overall.
Also Read: Rodrigues Wins Stage 12
Another interesting fact is that the last rider to finish the Dakar - Oswaldo Burga - had a gap of over 46 hours from the winner Toby Price. To put things in perspective, it may very well be said that in this time, Price would have completed Dakar twice before Oswaldo could finish it once.
Here are the top 10 finishers of the Dakar rally this year:
1. Toby Price (KTM) - 48:09:15
2. Stefan Svitko (KTM) - 48:48:56
3. Pablo Quintanilla (Husqvarna) - 48:58:03
4. Kevin Benavides (Honda) 49:04:02
5. Helder Rodrigues (Yamaha) - 49:04:59
6. Adrien Van Beveren (Yamaha) - 49:55:44
7. Antoine Meo (KTM) - 50:06:02
8. Farres Guell (KTM) - 50:10:15
9. Ricky Brabec (Honda) - 50:20:42
10. Armand Monleon (KTM) - 51:37:04
