Rallye

Joan Barreda takes Dakar stage 7 while Adrien Van Beveren moves to overall lead

Posted:

Sunday, January 14th, 2018

10:07 AM

Monster Energy Honda Team today battled its way through a complicated marathon stage 7 in the 2018 Dakar Rally with Joan Barreda taking the win in the special stage despite crashing en route while Yamaha's Adrien Van Beveren was second and now takes the overall lead.

Today‰Ûªs wet 425km timed special is the second longest of the event, only tomorrow‰Ûªs is longer at 498km. Both days make up the first of the marathon stages for the bikes where riders are allowed no assistance from their teams during the overnight stop. It is imperative that the competitors look after both their bikes and themselves on these stages as even a minor crash could result in significant problems.

Joan Barreda takes Dakar stage 7 while Adrien Van Beveren moves to overall lead

Joan Barreda set a furious pace on the muddy tracks for the stage 7 win.

Joan Barreda set a furious pace on the muddy tracks and had soon set the fastest time of the day. In the latter part of the special, the Spanish rider fell hard and damaged a knee, although despite this, was able to finish the stage with yet another victory, the third in this Dakar 2018 and the 22nd in his history of the race. Barreda is third in the general standings, 4‰Ûª45‰Û

Yamaha's Adrien Van Beveren moved into the overall lead after finishing second on today's 7th stage.

Putting in a stellar performance with second on today's 7th stage, Adrien Van Beveren has worked his way back into the lead of the 2018 Dakar Rally. Reaching the end of the first part of the two-day-long marathon stage without any issue, the Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team rider is now three minutes and 14 seconds ahead of Honda's Kevin Benavides in the provisional overall standings.

A good day for Kevin Benavides who held on to the third position from which he started this morning. In spite of having conceded the overall leader‰Ûªs spot, the Argentinean keeps his options open and lies a mere 3‰Ûª14‰Û

A good day for Kevin Benavides who held on to the third position from which he started this morning.

Starting second, Toby Price soon caught up the three-minute deficit to team-mate Antoine Meo. The pair rode together for the remainder of the stage and both put in good times. Price‰Ûªs performance was enough to net him fourth place for the day. The Australian remains in fifth place in the provisional overall standings.

"Today has gone really well, I managed to catch Meo easily enough but then I couldn‰Ûªt break away from him ‰ÛÒ we‰Ûªre on the same bikes with the same top-speed so we ended up riding together," Price explained.

Aussie Toby Price had a good day with a 4th place and remains in the hunt for the overall at the halfway mark. Credit: PhotosDakar.com - KTM Media Library

"From about the 80km mark there was some tricky navigation, so we just focused on getting through without losing any time. It was so muddy out there, the first part of the stage took us straight into it, then we had some nice fast hard-pack to race over but then towards the end of the stage, things got really wet again, which can make navigation hard. It‰Ûªs more important to take your time and spend a couple of minutes doing things right than get lost and waste half-an-hour. I‰Ûªm generally happy with how things are going, after not being on the bike for 12 months things get a little rusty ‰ÛÒ not just your riding, but your ability to navigate well, too. I‰Ûªm starting to get my rhythm back though and it feels really good," .

Reaching the halfway point of the two-day-long marathon stage without any issues, the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing's Pablo Quintanilla claimed a fifth-place result for the day, Quintanilla is currently eighth in the provisional overall standings. The Chilean rally star is now 20 minutes behind the provisional overall leader with the Rally World Champion remaining within striking distance of the top of the leader board

Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing's Pablo Quintanilla claimed a fifth-place result for the day

Daniel Trauner ‰ÛÒ Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing Rally team manager - believes Quintanilla is still in with a shot at the win. "Pablo did quite fine today and he has a good starting position for tomorrow. Tomorrow we have the longest special of the rally and it is good that Pablo will start from fifth position. We believe Pablo will be able to push and make up some time to the leaders tomorrow. There is still a lot of racing to be done and anything can happen. Pablo is strong physically and mentally and this is important at this point of the race." Trauner said.

KTM's Matthias Walkner had a challenging day, the horrendous conditions combined with the altitude made the day exhausting for the Austrian. Nevertheless, Walkner was able to push on and posted the sixth fastest time for the day.

"Not the best day for me today, conditions were terrible straight from the start," Walkner reflected, "It was raining, very slippery, and difficult to get into a good rhythm. As the stage went on, I was able to maintain a consistent pace and despite there being a lot of deep puddles and standing water, I didn‰Ûªt make any mistakes or crash so there is very little for me to do to my bike tonight. Riding at this altitude is exhausting, I already feel tired so I‰Ûªll try to get some sleep tonight and do my best again tomorrow.‰Û

Remaining consistent, Australian Rod Faggotter claimed 31st today and is currently 23rd in the provisional overall.

Remaining consistent, Australian Rod Faggotter claimed 31st today and is currently 23rd in the provisional overall. "Rod is super consistent so far and he will remain a key part of our team for the remainder of the race. We need him to continue supporting Adrien and Xavier." Alexandre Kowalski - Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team Director - said.

"Tough day today," Faggotter said on social media, "Was riding OK but stopped to help teammate Franco Caimi 2 times as he was badly bogged. Took 3 off us to get it out both times . My role as well as racing is also as a support where I can and our goal was to see every team Yamaha finish. Unfortunately Franco didn‰Ûªt finish today due to the damage caused. I am also disappointed with my result but still have 5 and bit days to go. Biggest 500klm race stage tomorrow will test us all. Now we are in seperate camp to our support so my mechanic side will be working into the night to make sure the 3 bikes are in good shape. Cheers for all the messages of support," he concluded.

The second part of this marathon stage will conclude tomorrow in Tupiza, where after 498 kilometres of special and 87 km of link, riders will once again be able to receive help from their mechanics.

2018 Dakar Stage Stage 7 - Saturday, January 13th 2018
1 Barreda Joan 5 SPA Monster Energy Honda Team Honda 05:11'10
2 Van Beveren Adrien 4 FRA Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team Yamaha +02'51
3 Benavides Kevin 47 ARG Monster Energy Honda Team Honda +08'02
4 Price Toby 8 AUS Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team KTM +08'43
5 Quintanilla Pablo 10 CHI Husqvarna Factory Rally Team Husqvarna +08'53
6 Walkner Matthias 2 AUT Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team KTM +09'16
7 Svitko Stefan 9 SLO Slovnaft Team KTM +09'30
8 de Soultrait Xavier 23 FRA Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team Yamaha +10'03
9 Meo Antoine 19 FRA Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team KTM +12'46
10 Brabec Ricky 20 USA Monster Energy Honda Team Honda +13'48
31 Rodney Faggotter (AUS), Yamaha, 06:07:31, +56:21

Provisional Standings after Stage 7
Pos. Rider Num Nation Team Constructor Time/Gap
1 Van Beveren Adrien 4 FRA Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team Yamaha 21:49'18
2 Benavides Kevin 47 ARG Monster Energy Honda Team Honda +03'14
3 Barreda Joan 5 SPA Monster Energy Honda Team Honda +04'45
4 Walkner Matthias 2 AUT Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team KTM +08'18
5 Price Toby 8 AUS Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team KTM +13'34
6 de Soultrait Xavier 23 FRA Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team Yamaha +16'39
7 Meo Antoine 19 FRA Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team KTM +18'40
8 Quintanilla Pablo 10 CHI Husqvarna Factory Rally Team Husqvarna +20'47
9 Farres Gerard 3 SPA Himoinsa Team KTM +33'27
10 Svitko Stefan 9 SLO Slovnaft Team KTM +33'53
23 Rodney Faggotter (AUS), Yamaha, 23:45:36, +01:56:18

Race Schedule - Dakar Rally 2018
Stage 1 | Jan 6 | Completed
Stage 2 | Jan 7 | Completed
Stage 3 | Jan 8 | Completed
Stage 4 | Jan 9 | Completed
Stage 5 | Jan 10 | Completed
Stage 6 | Jan 11 | Completed
Rest Day | Jan 12
Stage 7 | Jan 13 | Completed
Stage 8 | Jan 14 | Uyuni to Tupiza | SS: 498km | Total: 584km
Stage 9 | Jan 15 | Tupiza to Salta | SS: 242km | Total: 754km
Stage 10 | Jan 16 | Salta to BelÌ©n| SS: 372km | Total: 795km Stage 11 | Jan 17 | BelÌ©n to FiambalÌÁ | SS: 280km | Total: 484km
Stage 12 | Jan 18 | FiambalÌÁ to San Juan | SS: 375km | Total: 722km
Stage 13 | Jan 19 | San Juan to CÌ_rdoba | SS: 423km | Total: 904km
Stage 14 | Jan 20 | CÌ_rdoba to CÌ_rdoba | SS: 119km | Total: 284km