Dakar Rally 2024 – Stage 6: 48H Chrono completed
12th January 2024The sixth stage has been completed to bring the rally to its halfway point with the 48-hour Chrono stage which saw changes in the overall leaderboards.
The all-new 48H Chrono was set amid the Saudi Arabian Empty Quarter, in the southeast area of the Middle Eastern country, which consisted of a 600km marathon stage. As the name suggested the stage, held at Shubaytah, over 48 hours.
Bikes and Quads
At the end of the gruelling challenge, it was Adrien van Beveren who came out on top as the Monster Energy rider completed the 48-hour stage four minutes ahead of Red Bull KTM’s Toby Price. Monster Energy’s Ricky Brabec completed the top three, five minutes behind.
As a result of Brabec’s third-place finish and Hero Motosports’ Ross Branch’s sixth-place finish at the end of the stage, it meant Brabec became the new overall class leader, 51 seconds ahead of the Botswanan. In turn, the stage winner occupied third-place, nine minutes behind Brabec’s time.
It wasn’t smooth sailing for some of the riders as Skyler Howes (Monster Energy) retired from the stage due to mechanical issues, 12km in, whereas his teammate Pablo Quintanilla ran out of fuel.
For the quad-bike category, Yahama Racing’s Alexandre Giroud secured the stage win marginally over 7240 Team’s Manuel Andujar, as the Argentinian completed the stage nine seconds behind. However, this does not change the overall standings as Andujar remains in the class lead, 20 minutes ahead of both Giroud, and 45 minutes ahead of Marcelo Medeiros.
Toby Price (AUS) for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing races during stage 6 of Rally Dakar 2024 from SHUBAYTAH to SHUBAYTAH, Saudi Arabia on January 11, 2024. // Flavien Duhamel / Red Bull Content Pool //
Cars and Trucks
Bahrain Raid Xtreme’s Sebastien Loeb made a gamble to take a penalty during the fifth stage to give him more tracks to follow in the 48H Chrono. In turn, this decision worked out as the Frenchman drove his Hunter to victory on the gruelling stage.
After 48 hours passed, the former WRC champion completed the stage two minutes ahead of fellow WRC champion and Team Audi driver, Carlos Sainz. Sainz’s teammate, Mattias Ekstrom completed the stage top three, 10 minutes behind Loeb’s time.
However, there were some problems for the crews such as Overdrive Racing’s Yazeed Al Rajhi who rolled out of the rally 51km in, sustaining heavy damage to his Toyota Hilux Overdrive. Audi’s Stephane Peterhansel suffered mechanical problems as he suffered a puncture and lost hydraulic power on his jack, without a manual jack. Peterhansel lost two hours fixing his car and finished 60th.
Nasser Al-Attiyah of Nasser Racing also suffered mechanical issues as he suffered a cracked wheel hub. The Qatari managed to finish the stage after he waited for a support truck, albeit 50th in the stage standings.
For the Trucks class, it was more headache for Boss Machinery’s Janus Van Kasteren’s crew where they lost just under three hours on the stage winner Martin Macik, MM Technology. Eurol Rallysport’s Mitchel Van Den Brink and Ales Loprais (InstaForex) completed the stage top three, just over an hour behind.
Due to Kasteren’s problems, it meant Macik inherited the overall class lead with Loprais and Van Den Brink being promoted up to second and third, respectively. Despite the former class leader’s mechanical issues, the Boss Machinery crew only stumbled down to fourth, two and a half hours off the pace.
Carlos Sainz (ESP) and Lucas Cruz (ESP) of Team Audi Sport race during stage 06 of Rally Dakar 2024 in Shubaytah, Saudi Arabia on January 11, 2024. // Marcelo Maragni / Red Bull Content Pool //
That’s it for the article; Dakar Rally 2024 – Stage 6: 48H Chrono completed!
Read more Rally Raid here:
- Dakar Rally – Stage 5: Tackling Empty Quarter dunes as 48H Chrono looms
- 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
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