Pablo Quintanilla safely completes Dakar stage 10

Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Pablo Quintanilla has successfully completed stage 10 of the 2021 Dakar Rally. On another tough day that challenged competitors with some very fast terrain and tricky navigation throughout, Quintanilla brought his FR 450 Rally home in 15th position and now lies eighth in the provisional overall standings.

In what was an uneventful stage for Quintanilla, the Chilean left the bivouac early this morning to head for AlUla. Following just over three and a half hours of racing against the clock, he completed the technically demanding special in 15th.

Continuing to place consistently despite the ultra-tough stages, Pablo now sits comfortably inside the top 10 of the provisional standings. With Thursday’s stage 11 combining the longest timed special of the event with some extremely difficult navigation through a huge area of dunes, it looks set to be one of the most challenging of the rally. Quintanilla hopes his knowledge and experience will come to the fore and aid him in securing a top result while closing down the riders ahead of him in the general rankings.

Pablo Quintanilla: “Another stage done and I’m happy to get to the finish. I’m still struggling to find a good rhythm on the different types of terrain, but I’m trying my best and happy with my overall result. We have two days left now and tomorrow looks like it will be a very long, tough stage. I will get some rest tonight and then set off tomorrow and hopefully put in a good ride for a strong result.”

Day 11 of the Dakar Rally, the penultimate of the event, contains the longest timed special of the race. At 511km, the special will challenge all competitors with varied terrain including a 100km section of dunes in the middle of the stage that heads from AlUla to Yanbu.

2021 Dakar Rally – Stage 10 Provisional Classification

1. Ricky Brabec (Honda) 3:12:33
2. Joan Barreda (Honda) 3:15:48
3. Kevin Benavides (Honda) 3:17:44
4. Skyler Howes (KTM) 3:18:21
5. Matthias Walkner (KTM) 3:18:29
6. Daniel Sanders (KTM) 3:21:40
…
15. Pablo Quintanilla (Husqvarna) 3:32:33

2021 Dakar Rally – Overall Provisional Classification (after stage 10)

1. Kevin Benavides (Honda) 40:20:08
2. Ricky Brabec (Honda) 40:20:59
3. Sam Sunderland (KTM) 40:30:44
4. Joan Barreda (Honda) 40:35:48
5. Skyler Howes (KTM) 40:49:46
6. Daniel Sanders (KTM) 40:51:03
…
8. Pablo Quintanilla (Husqvarna) 41:24:10