Stage five of the 2021 Dakar Rally saw another one-two for Honda, with Kevin Benavides and Jose Cornejo occupying the top two places ahead of Australian Toby Price.
Leaving Riyadh behind, stage five of the rally delivered one of the physically toughest timed specials of the event so far. For 456km, riders raced against the clock over a variety of terrain, starting with rough, stony tracks in the early stages, before opening out into softer, undulating dunes on the drop down to Al Qaisumah.
The navigation once again proved demanding, particularly for the riders leading the peloton which opened the track, but also for adversaries attacking from more favorable positions behind. The special stage played out over hard, and sometimes rocky, terrain. Later there were stretches of sand and the final kilometres of the special stage even featured a few dunes.
Despite a hard fall
Kevin Benavides took the stage victory spoils after a ferocious pedal-to-the-metal performance from start to finish. The Argentinean rider thus moves to the head of the overall standings with a 2‰Ûª31‰Û
