Today, the participants of the 46th edition of the famous competition drove a 118 km long special stage in the dunes of the Rub al-Khalí desert. But before that, they had to complete a five-hundred-kilometer crossing.
“We should still ride in such smaller dunks, for warm-up. So that everyone can see what kind of character awaits us on the 48-hour stage, which will be driven only in the dunes,” said car driver Martin Prokop before the start.
Among the motorcyclists, Michek lost 6:38 minutes to the victorious Quintanilla and was sixteenth. He was overtaken by Australian Daniel Sanders and Romain Dumontier from France in a balanced order at the border of the top ten. In tenth position, the Orion Moto Racing Group rider loses a minute.
Motorcyclist Ross Branch at the 2024 Dakar Rally.
Health problems also deprived the thirty-five-year-old motorcyclist of a better result. “This could have been the final special for me… We only had 118 measured kilometers to go, but it was hard work. We were riding with Toby Price and we overlooked a dune cut down on such a plain. We both flew into the opponent, I left my hand there, so the impact dislocated my wrist a little,” said Michek, who had to stop for a while after the collision. “I didn’t fall, but I had to take a little break.”
José Ignacio Cornejo Florimo from Chile, who was in the lead after Tuesday, was only 27 seconds faster than Michek. The factory Honda rider now loses 74 seconds on Branch.
The best stage result at this year’s Dakar was achieved today by Jan Brabec, who was 20th. “He drove perfectly, the dunes testify to him,” acknowledged compatriot Milan Engel, who caught up with him and followed him.