Jan 9, 2024

Luciano Benavides claims sixth on Dakar Rally stage four

Luciano Benavides has delivered a strong performance on day four of the 2024 Dakar Rally to secure a sixth-place finish. Delivering another solid stage result, the Husqvarna Factory Racing rider moves himself further up the overall standings to lie sixth overall after completing the second leg of the event’s first marathon stage.

The prescribed route for today’s 631-kilometre stage from Al Salamiya to Al Hofuf featured some rocky sections and dunes, but overall was very fast, posing more of a challenge in terms of navigation. Continuing to deliver consistent results, Benavides skilfully worked his way through the 299-kilometre special, maintaining a good pace and strong rhythm to ultimately achieve a highly commendable sixth-place result.

After successfully completing the second leg of the semi-marathon stage without issue, Luciano now lies sixth in the overall standings. With stage times between the riders extremely close, the Argentinian is feeling confident on his FR 450 Rally and fully focused on delivering more strong results and moving further up the standings on his Husqvarna Factory Racing machine.

Luciano Benavides: “I felt a lot better on the bike today for stage four. It was a shorter stage, but there were some rocky pistes which made it tough, and I had to really focus to make sure I didn’t make any mistakes. Overall, I’m happy with my results so far and I’m looking forward to the next few days of racing through the dunes.”

2024 Dakar Rally – Stage 4 Provisional Classification

1. Jose Ignacio Cornejo (Honda) 2:51:11
2. Ricky Brabec (Honda) 2:54:10
3. Kevin Benavides (KTM) 2:54:29
4. Ross Branch (Hero) 2:55:37
5. Adrien Van Beveren (Honda) 2:56:36
6. Luciano Benavides (Husqvarna) 2:58:33

2024 Dakar Rally – Provisional Overall Classification [After Stage 4]

1. Jose Ignacio Cornejo (Honda) 17:27:13
2. Ross Branch (Hero) 17:28:28
3. Ricky Brabec (Honda) 17:32:09
4. Kevin Benavides (KTM) 17:47:52
5. Adrien Van Beveren (Honda) 17:49:43
6. Luciano Benavides (Husqvarna) 17:58:24