Australian Toby Price continues to make his impression on #dakar2016, taking out the win on a tricky Stage 8 – which saw the first dunes of 2016 – and moving into the Overall Lead of the General Standings, over 2 minutes ahead of Paulo Goncalves.
Stage 8 saw a change of terrain which marked the entry into the second part of the rally, including the first dune sections of the 2016 edition. Experts in dunes crossing would have an opportunity to demonstrate their skills and even gain an advantage. Riders would also notice the navigational difficulties which have been introduced this year to complicate their existence!
Red Bull KTM teammate Antoine Meo had a solid day, finishing the stage in 8th. Obliged to open the way, the Frenchman got somewhat lost in the dunes. He lost 11 minutes to his team leader, but it could have been worse and indeed he lies in a respectable 6th in the general standings.
Fellow KTM rider, Slovakian Stefan Svitko continues to put in consistent and impressive rides, finishing 4th for the stage and rounding out the podium in 3rd for the General Standings.
Toby Price – “It was never perfect. We still made a couple of little errors in there. I think we got a little bit lucky on a couple of caps. When we got to the end the way point opened for me and I was all good to go. If I’d had to lead out a stage like that I think it would’ve been pretty good. It’s been a good day. We’re in first at the moment. There are still a few guys coming through, so anything can happen between now and then. We really got a good day in and I’m stoked to be here for day… I think it’s day eight now. With Paulo, me and him are battling. It’s pretty much day for day. We take time off each other and I think it’s going to come down to minutes and seconds by the end of the week. He’s a real strong competitor and he’s got a lot more navigation skills than what I do, but we’re trying our best and keeping ourselves in front as much as we can. It is a little bit stressful, but once you throw your leg over the bike and you get going, we just have to make sure we make all the right calls and be confident with what we decide to do. We did that today and we’ve come out pretty good. If it all goes to plan I’d say we might be leading out tomorrow and we’ll just make sure we get through and in one piece. For sure this is another important part of the Dakar now. Having the marathon stage, we’ve got to make sure on the first day that we don’t do anything silly and break the bike or damage the bike in any way because it makes the second day a whole lot worse. We’ve just got to make sure we get through and look after ourselves those two days.”
Antoine Meo – “I’m very, very happy. I opened the stage from the start to the finish. On the first part I rode pretty well. I was just twenty seconds behind Benavides, so it was not bad. On the second part I preferred to slow down a little bit to make sure I did some good navigation. I think it was a good option, because I didn’t make a mistake for my first time opening. Just in the last part Paulo and Benavides passed me, but he made a mistake and I passed him again, so I’m very happy.”
Photo Credits: Bauer E./RallyZone / Barni C. / Red Bull Content Pool
STAGE 8:
1st – PRICE // KTM
2nd – GONCALVES
3rd – QUINTANILLA
4th – SVITKO // KTM
5th – BENAVIDES
6th – RODRIGUES
7th – FARRES GUELL // KTM
8th – MEO // KTM
9th – PEDRERO GARCIA
10th – VAN BEVEREN
17th – VILADOMS // KTM
18th – SANZ // KTM
GENERAL STANDINGS (After Stage 8):
1st – PRICE // KTM
2nd – GONCALVES
3rd – SVITKO // KTM
4th – QUINTANILLA
5th – BENAVIDES
6th – MEO // KTM
7th – RODRIGUES
8th – FARRES GUELL // KTM
9th – PEDRERO GARCIA
10th – DUCLOS
14th – SANZ // KTM
15th – VILADOMS // KTM
