Benavides never gave up... and was rewarded with the closest win gap in Dakar history
that Brabec going into the final stage with a gap of 4 minutes and 42 seconds over Benavides in second place would mean a win for the American and Honda. The final Dakar stage is normally something of a formality, but a wrong turn by Brabec only 7km from the finish line saw him complete an extra three kilometres and... check in for the stage two seconds behind Benavides for the closest ever finish in Dakar’ s history! The KTM team exploded in celebrations- and we understand they’ re still going several days later. Two weeks of racing with only a two-second gap at the final flag, unbelievable. Literally snatching glory from the jaws of defeat, Luciano Benavides now joins his twotime winner brother Kevin Benavides in the list of Dakar winners. Benavides said after the race,“ I still can’ t believe it. I never stopped dreaming. I woke up today full of energy and motivation, just thinking about what I could do and trusting in myself, and that was the key for this Dakar. I did this for myself, and this feeling is unreal. To win by just two seconds is unbelievable. I even missed the
24 KIWI RIDER