Dakar Rally 2024 – Stage 5: Tackling Empty Quarter dunes as 48H Chrono looms
11th January 2024The remaining competitors had to contend with deep dunes as they crossed through the Empty Quarter as the 48H Chrono stage loomed closer.
It was a 118 special stage across deep dunes as the teams and crews crossed through the empty quarter, from Al-Hofuf to Shubaytah. The terrain would be tricky to navigate for the competitors as they reached heights of around 250m high.
Bikes and Quads
It was a Monster Energy 1-2 in stage five, for the motorbike class as Pabo Quintanilla topped the timing boards 37 seconds ahead of his teammate, Adrien van Beveren. Red Bull’s KTM completed the stage top three just over 90 seconds behind, at the hands of Toby Price.
After he lost the overall rally lead, after stage four, Hero Motosports Ross Branch returned to the top spot having secured enough time in his sixth-place finish on the stage to lead the class by one minute and 14 seconds.
The Botswanan led the group by three minutes as Jose Florimo and Ricky Brabec, of Monster Energy, completed the overall top three in second and third, respectively.
In terms of the Quad bikes, Taguatar’s Marcelo Medeiros took another stage to increase his tally to three over five stages. Yahama Racing’s Alexandre Giroud (+1m 21s) and 7240 Team’s Manuel Andujar completed the stage top three, two minutes off the pace.
This left the overall top three unchanged from S4 as Andujar continued to lead with 20 minutes in hand over second-placed Giroud. The stage winner, Medeiros completed the overall top three in third, 21 minutes behind the leading time.
Toby Price on his KTM of the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team during the Stage 5 of the Dakar 2024 on January 10, 2024 between Al-Hofuf and Subaytah, Saudi Arabia // Florent Gooden / DPPI / Red Bull Content Pool //
Cars and Trucks
Nasser Al-Attiyah, Nasser Racing, returned to winning form as the Qatari driver secured the stage win by over a minute over the Overdrive Racing duo of Guerlain Chichert and Juan Yacopini. Despite a quick drive by the reigning Dakar champion, Saudi Arabia’s Yazeed Al Rajhi continues to lead the car class nine minutes ahead of Nasser.
The change in overall position came after Team Audi’s Carlos Sainz, who had run just behind Al Rajhi, finished the stage in 26th position. A slow time for the Spaniard had dropped the Audi crew down to third, 11 minutes off the pace. However, it seemed to be an intentional decision to benefit the 48H Chrono stage.
Bahrain Raid Xtreme’s Sebastien Loeb completed a similar feat as the Frenchman took a 15-minute penalty to gain a better position for the upcoming stage. At the end of the fifth stage, the former WRC world champion finished 68th in the stage standings.
In the Truck class, class leader, Janus Van Kasteren (Boss Machinery) suffered mechanical problems and bled time, and finished 10th in the stage. This allowed MM Technology’s Martin Macik to take the stage win ahead of Mitchel Van Den Brink (Eurol Rallysport) and Vick Versteijnen (Vesteijnen Truck Racing) who finished second and third.
Despite the problems, Van Kasteren remains as the class leader, ahead of Macik – 22 minutes behind – and Ales Lopraid of InstaForex (+26m 5s).
Sébastien Loeb and Fabian Lurquin on their Prodrive BRX Hunter T1+ of the Bahrain Raid Xtreme during the Stage 5 of the Dakar 2024 on January 10, 2024 between Al-Hofuf and Subaytah, Saudi Arabia // Florent Gooden / DPPI / Red Bull Content Pool //
That’s it for the article; Dakar Rally 2024 – Stage 5: Tackling Empty Quarter dunes as 48H Chrono looms!
Read more Rally Raid here:
- Dakar Rally – Stage 4: Loeb returns to the top
- Dakar Rally – Stage 3: Sunderland retires as Giroud returns to winning ways
- Dakar Rally – Stage 2: Al-Attiyah returns to form as trucks struggle
- Dakar Rally – Stage 1: crashes and punctures
- Dakar Rally 2024: A gruelling challenge in the new year
- Carlos Sainz reveals injury after Dakar retirement
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
