2024 DAKAR RALLY, STAGE 6A

Today was the first half of the 48-Hour Chrono stage in the 2024 Dakar Rally. This is a new challenge for this year’s event, where the riders are scored after two days of racing. The riders are told to lay down arms at 4:00 p.m. local time and head to the nearest of 7 bivouacs. At that point, it was Honda’s Adrien Van Beverin who had covered the most ground with his teammate Ricky Brabec close behind. “Point F” at kilometer 513 is where they will spend the night, along with Luciano Benevidez, Kevin Benevidez, Nacho Cornejo, Toby Price, Joan Barreda, Ross Branch, Steven Svitco, Daniel Sanders, Antonio Maio and Martin Michek. Mason Klein and Jacob Argubright were credited with the 19th and 20th best distance for the day, respectively. Unfortunately, Skyler Howes did not not make it far enough to reach any of the bivouacs. His Honda suffered terminal mechanical issues only 39 km into the stage. Also having a bad day was his Honda teammate Pablo Quintanilla, who ran out of gas and lost massive time.

The day’s events actually put Brabec in the virtual lead of the rally overall, but these times will have no official bearing on the standings until the finish tomorrow.