Aussie Focus

Five things we learned from Stage 13 of Dakar 2023

Dakar 2023 is fast approaching Dammam and you could not have scripted a grandstand finish like this! Three riders within 103 seconds of each other and in that mix is Australian Toby Price, who leads by 12 seconds. This is the low down from the penultimate stage of Dakar.

The dunes might be long and lonely, but Toby Price is edging close to a potential third Dakar win. Photo: Eric Vargiolu/DPPI/LiveMedia Credit: IPA/Sipa USA

1. Price holds onto the lead as Benavides storms home in the final showdown

As we head into the final competitive stage of the rally over 136 km en route to Dammam, it’ll be Australia’s Toby Price who has a twelve second gap over Argentina’s Kevin Benavides. They are teammates at KTM, which will give the Austrian manufacturer a huge headache to deal with.

Benavides was the major benefactor of yesterday’s stage, despite initially losing 23 minutes when he tended to downed KTM teammate Matthias Walkner. The Austrian rider crashed out of the rally in a heavy fall and was taken to hospital for observation of his back. Benavides lodged a request for time lost to be taken into account, which was granted by race officials and his race time was adjusted, keeping him in the overall mix.

Kevin Benavides is 12 seconds away from the rally lead, as he hunts down KTM teammate Toby Price. Photo: Florent Gooden/DPPI/LiveMedia Credit: IPA/Sipa USA

The Argentinian would complete the stage as the fastest on the day with the amendment, and he finished 2’28” ahead of his Australian teammate, who was fifth on the course. With the added benefit of time bonuses, Price still maintains his lead but the margin for error is very tiny.

With the running order of the final stage to go in reverse order of the current overall standings, Price will be the last to leave the start, with Benavides and Skyler Howes before him. It will be an epic finish.

2. Has USA’s hopes of winning Dakar 2023 run out?

The American assault of Dakar 2023 is now down to one rider for outright glory and that’s Utah’s Skyler Howes. The Husqvarna factory rider heads into the final stage with a 91-second deficit to Toby Price in third place, but after struggling during yesterday’s penultimate stage, has his luck run out?

A number of small errors cost Skyler Howes time on stage 13, but has it cost him the rally win? Photo: Gigi Soldano /DPPI/LiveMedia Credit: IPA/Sipa USA

Howes made quite a few errors which lost him a little over a minute to Price in the general classification and this was further compounded when a resurgent Benavides snatched second overall at the end of the stage. Though he remains 1’31” off the overall lead, the man who led the rally for five days has his work cut out for him.

And to further add to the woes of the American assault, Mason Klein’s debut assault in the outright class came to a sad end when he retired prior to commencement of stage 13. Having won the Rally2 class last year on debut, the 21-year-old started strongly in the early stages of this year's rally before dropping back to tenth overall. He crashed awkwardly on stage 12 and had X-rays done post-stage on his neck, as he thought he had done damage.

Mason Klein crashed awkwardly on Stage 12, retiring from the rally prior to the start of stage 13. Photo: Eric Vargiolu/DPPI/LiveMedia Credit: IPA/Sipa USA

Despite being given the all-clear by the event doctors, the BAS World KTM rider played it safe and opted to retire. Whilst it’s sad he won’t finish, the Californian’s immediate impact early in the rally won’t be forgotten quickly.

3. Loeb creates more Dakar history, as Al-Attiyah has it all wrapped up

On stage 11, Sebastian Loeb won four stages in a row equalling the likes of Carlos Sainz, Ari Vatanen and Jacky Ickx. Then on stage 12, he made it five in a row in a feat not done since 1989 by Vatanen. Overnight, the Frenchman in his Prodrive run BRX Hunter went to create new Dakar history as he claimed his sixth stage win in a row.

Sebastien Loeb has won his sixth Dakar Rally stage in a row and the seventh in this year's event. Photo: EPA/Andrew Eaton Credit: Andrew Eaton/EPA

Such is the talent of the nine times World Rally champion, it’s an accomplishment never done before in the car component of this rally. Loeb has won seven stages in total for this year’s rally and is on track to make it eight, if he wins the last stage.

He will fall short on two fronts; he will be two stage wins shy of equalling the all-time record set in 1994 by fellow countryman, Pierre Lartigue. Plus, overall victory will continue to elude him, as he still remains 81 minutes behind Nasser Al-Attiyah. Loeb's chances went out the window early in the rally, following a triple puncture on the second stage followed by a rollover during the fifth. Both incidents lost him a combined total of 90 minutes.

Qatar's Nasser Al-Attiyah is all but certain to win his fifth Dakar for Toyota. Photo: EPA/Andrew Eaton Credit: Andrew Eaton/EPA

The Qatari-born driver for Toyota Gazoo has pretty much wrapped up his fifth Dakar title with one stage to go and only needs to get to the end of the final stage to confirm victory, becoming the second most successful driver in the rally’s history and surpassing Vatanen’s four wins.

5. Taylor and Short eyeing off a top-ten finish on the final day.

Three days ago, Molly Taylor and Andrew Short were more than two hours away from a top ten result in the general classification in the T4 Modified Production SSV class. Now, with one stage remaining, the pair are only 9’30” away from snatching a top-ten finish.

Molly Taylor and Andrew Short are currently 12th overall in T4 and are eyeing off a top ten finish. Photo: Florent Gooden/DPPI/LiveMedia Credit: IPA/Sipa USA

The Australian-American partnership has worked really well over the last few days and yesterday’s stage result of tenth place helped them claw back almost 24 minutes. In the general classification, they’re currently 12th overall in T4.

Ahead of them are Toomas Triisa and Mart Meeru of Estonia in 11th place and the French pair of Florent Vassayde and Nicolas Rey in 10th. It will be quite an exciting finish, with the final 136 km to decide which of these three teams will finish in the top ten.

5. The battle of the young guns in T4 to go down to the wire.

Whilst Molly Taylor and Andrew Short are battling away for tenth in T4, the outright battle to win the class remains very tight, with Rokas Baciuska and Eryk Goczal to duke it out in the final stage.

Eryk Goczal has contributed to his family's seven stage win in this year's event. Photo: Florent Gooden/DPPI/LiveMedia Credit: IPA/Sipa USA

Goczal, from Poland, wants to continue the family’s winning ways in this class with one more stage win and close the 3’24” gap on the Lithuanian driver. Between himself, father Marek and his uncle Michal, they’ve won seven of the 13 completed stages in this year’s rally.

Rokas Baciuska overcame a 15 minute time penalty early in this year's rally to be the current T4 class leader, with one stage remaining. Photo: Florent Gooden/DPPI/LiveMedia Credit: IPA/Sipa USA

Baciuska has won only three stages as well as the Prologue, but has been much quicker with his raw pace, making up a 15-minute time penalty from the opening stage of the rally to remain in contention to win.

We’re pretty sure it will be very close when they cross the final stage finish in Dammam.

Catch the penultimate stage highlights tonight from 5pm AEDT on SBS and anytime on SBS On Demand.

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