Toby Price, Red Bull KTM Factory Rider opened his bid for the 2016 Dakar Rally with a win in Stage 2 ahead of Ruben faria of Husqvarna’s Rockstar Energy team by 20 seconds in general classification while the KTM rider Stefan Svitko came third.
On Monday race officials trimmed the timed special from 450km to 354km because track conditions had deteriorated after Sunday’s thunderstorms that resulted in the cancelation of Stage 1. The second stage was almost 800km in total and took riders from Villa Carlos Paz to Termas de Río Hondo, mostly through undulating terrain at speed.
Toby Price said: It has been a clean stage and he was happy to be in a good position for Tuesday’s competition. “It was a long day in the saddle but for sure it’s started well for us. Today was really easy navigation and we had a few tracks we could see, plus the route was pretty well marked.” But the Australian cautioned that there was a long way to go as Stage 2 was effectively to first day of competition following Sunday’s cancelation. “You’ve got to have a perfect race go your way for the two weeks. Realistically it’s day one, so we’ve got a long way to go. We’ve just got to make sure we keep cool, calm and collected. It’s good to get one stage win out of the way, but we’re looking forward to being smooth and consistent the rest of the week and see how we go.”
Team HRC’s Joan Barreda, fastest in the 11km Prologue, opened the road followed by Faria and Yamaha’s Helder Rodrigues. The revised route for Stage 2 included 354km of special section on the way to Termas Rio Hondo, a high-speed course that suited Price well. The Australian, 16th to start after the Prologue, cut his deficit by the first checkpoint in Stage 2 to lead the field. He retained the stage lead to the second checkpoint as well.
Toby Price’s Red Bull KTM factory teammate Matthias Walkner of Austria finished fifth but is very much in the running with just a two-minute deficit. Price who was third in 2015 in his debut Dakar and Walkner, who is coming off an excellent season, have both been mentioned as possible favourites for this edition.
CS Santosh started the stage 2 from 127th position and finished at 91st position which gave him a lead in overall standing. Later, Santosh revealed that he has been struggling with reliability and top speed and lost time due to repairs on the way.
Sherco TVS’ rider Alain Duclos enjoyed the day’s proceeding finishing fourth overall after starting 20th. His teammate Juan Pedrero ended 10th overall after starting 25th making 11 places at the end of first way point.
2016 Dakar Rally Stage 2 Results
1. Toby Price (KTM) AUS – 3:46:24
2. Ruben Faria (Husqvarna) PRT – 3:46:44
3. Stefan Svitko (KTM) SVK – 3:47:52
4. Alain Duclos (Sherco TVS) FRA – 3:48:15
5. Matthias Walkner (KTM) AUT – 3:48:24
6. Paulo Goncalves (Honda) PRT – 3:49:02
7. Joan Barreda (Honda) ESP – 3:49:46
8. Kevin Benavides (Honda) ARG – 3:50:00
9. Juan Pedrero Garcia (Sherco TVS) ESP – 3:50:49
10. Pablo Quintanilla (Husqvarna) CHL – 3:50:56
2016 Dakar Rally Overall Standings after Stage 2
1. Toby Price (KTM) AUS – 3:53:09
2. Ruben Faria (Husqvarna) PRT – 3:53:11
3. Stefan Svitko (KTM) SVK – 3:54:30
4. Alain Duclos (Sherco TVS) FRA – 3:55:02
5. Matthias Walkner (KTM) AUT – 3:55:08
6. Joan Barreda (Honda) ESP – 3:56:13
7. Paulo Goncalves (Honda) PRT – 3:56:29
8. Kevin Benavides (Honda) ARG – 3:56:35
9. Pablo Quintanilla (Husqvarna) CHL – 3:57:33
10. Juan Pedrero Garcia (Sherco TVS) ESP – 3:57:39
