comfortable advantage over the fourth-placed rider and knew that with the two front runners fighting it out behind him , a smooth , calculated ride to the finish was all that was needed to secure his podium result . Completing the final stage as fifth fastest , Howes was overjoyed with his overall result of third place on what is his fifth Dakar Rally appearance . In just a few years , the 30-year-old has gone from a promising privateer to topthree Dakar racer .
TWO BRANDS , TWO WINS 2023 was the year KTM reclaimed Dakar glory after their incredible 18-year winning streak was broken in 2020 by Honda and denied again by Honda in 2021 , followed by GasGas in 2022 . At the end of what has been a hugely successful race for the KTM factory team , Benavides led home a KTM one-two with Toby Price securing second place , just 44 seconds behind his teammate . The result marks KTM ’ s 19th victory at the iconic rally-raid event . Although the final timed special had been regarded as a relatively simple sprint to the finish , the 136 kilometres of gravel tracks , sand , and dry lake beds threw up a considerable challenge to all riders . However , it was Benavides who piled on the speed and mastered the terrain to take his second consecutive stage win of the event , and more importantly , the overall rally victory . Benevides ’ journey through the 14-stage race was one of outstanding consistency . Even though the Argentinian didn ’ t pick up one single second in bonus time for opening any stages , he finished inside the top 10 every day for the whole two weeks of racing . It was this skilful and calculated approach to the event that earned him his second career Dakar Rally victory . The result makes it two Dakar titles for Benavides – 2021 ( Honda ) and 2023 ( KTM ) – and makes him the first rider since Cyril Neveu in the 1980s to win on two different motorcycle brands . “ It ’ s been an amazing day !” exclaimed Benavides . “ I just focused on every kilometre from the first to the last . I didn ’ t think about
Previous winner Toby Price was only 43s away from the win
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