MOSCOW, 15 Jan – Argentinian Kevin Benavidez on KTM became the winner of the Dakar rally-raid, which takes place in Saudi Arabia, in the motorcycle category.

At the last, 14th stage, he won, showing a result of 1 hour 15 minutes 17 seconds on a special stage 136 km long. Toby Price of Australia (KTM; 55 seconds back) was second, while Pablo Quintanilla of Chile (Honda; +3.15) was third.

In the overall standings, the result of the Argentinean was 44 hours 27 minutes 20 seconds, he became the best in the motorcycle classification for the second time (2021, 2023). The second was Price (+0.43), the third – American Skyler House (Husqvarna; +5.04).

Among ATVs, the Lithuanian Laisvydas Kantsius (Yamaha; 1:36.16) won the stage, the American Pablo Kopetti (Yamaha; +6.05) took the second place, the Brazilian Marcelo Medeiros (Yamaha; +8.11) took the third place. France’s Alexandre Giroud (Yamaha; 56:44.30) was the overall winner for the second time in a row, followed by Argentina’s Francisco Moreno Flores (Yamaha; +43.11) and Copetti (+1:52.55), respectively.

In March, the International Automobile Federation (FIA) banned competitions in Russia and Belarus due to the aggravation of the situation in Ukraine and allowed the athletes of these countries to compete in international competitions only under a neutral flag, while the riders must fulfill a number of requirements and obligations, including sign a declaration of commitment to the principles of peace and political neutrality. Because of this, racing driver Sergey Karyakin and the KAMAZ-master team refused to participate in the rally marathon.