The two-time Dakar Champion had the unenviable task of opening stage two. That, combined with the limited time to acquaint himself with the roadbook, made navigating the stage extremely tricky from the front of the pack. Despite the disadvantages, the reigning champion put in a good ride to 15th place and now lies ninth in the provisional overall standings, seven minutes and 34 seconds down on Sunderland.
“Today was always going to be tough, leading out from the start without having had much time to read the roadbook,” Price said. “The stage went ok, I lost some time to the others but the most important thing is I looked after my bike and the tyres so should be in good shape to close down on the leaders again tomorrow. There’s still a long, long way to go, but the bike is working great, things are looking good and I’m happy.”
Yamaha rider Rod Faggotter finished 18th in Stage 2 and is now 19th overall. Ben Young placed 92nd in the stage and is 88th, Trevor Wilson 111th in the stage and 121st overall and Matthew Tisdall 131st in the Stage and 130th overall.
Stage two at the 2020 Dakar Rally presented riders with several new challenges. The pre-coloured road books used for the first time this year were only given to competitors 25 minutes before the start of the timed special. Also, with the day marking the first half of the event’s Super Marathon stage, riders were only allowed 10 minutes to work on their bikes at the end of the day, with no outside assistance permitted.
Tuesday’s stage three of the 2020 Dakar Rally will see riders complete a looped course starting and finishing at the city of Neom. Of the 504 kilometres covered, 427 will be timed special, leading competitors towards the border with Jordon and rising to the highest point in this year’s rally at an altitude of 1,400 metres before returning to the bivouac.
Provisional Results Stage Two – 2020 Dakar Rally
1. Ross Branch (BWA), KTM, 3:39:10
2. Sam Sunderland (GBR), KTM, 3:40:34 +1:24
3. Pablo Quintanilla (CHI), Husqvarna, 3:41:31 +2:21
4. Kevin Benavides (ARG), Honda, 3:42:50 +3:40
5. Luciano Benavides (ARG), KTM, 3:42:54 +3:44
15. Toby Price (AUS), KTM, 3:51:23 +12:13
Provisional Standings (after stage two) – 2020 Dakar Rally
1. Sam Sunderland (GBR), KTM, 7:05:22
2. Pablo Quintanilla (CHI), Husqvarna, 7:06:40 +1:18
3. Kevin Benavides (ARG), Honda, 7:06:54 +1:32
4. Matthias Walkner (AUT), KTM, 7:07:22 +2:00
5. Ricky Brabec (USA), Honda, 7:09:33 +4:11
9. Toby Price (AUS), KTM, 7:12:56 +7:34
