Australia’s Toby Price claims the first Dakar Rally stage win of 2016.
After yesterday’s cancellation of Stage 1, the 2016 Dakar Rally got underway in earnest today with Red Bull KTM rider and 2015 Dakar Rally third-place finisher Toby Price making an immediate statement by grabbing the Stage 2 win in Argentina.
On the run between Villa Carlos Paz and Termas de Rio Hondo, the Australian earned his second career Dakar rally stage win after battling with Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Ruben Faria on the clock. In a fast-paced stage, Price took the lead late in the race to secure the win by 20 seconds over Faria, and he now holds a lead of 1 minute and 2 seconds over the Portuguese rider in the overall standings (Faria was assessed a 1-minute penalty during today’s stage).
“On this stage it’s all gone really good,” Price said. “It was a weird way to start the Dakar yesterday. We didn’t even get to run the course and everything got canceled, so actually today kicked the Dakar off and getting going is unreal. I got through that stage pretty clean and pretty comfortable, so we’re in a good position for tomorrow.
Faria of Portugal is clearly competitive on his new Rockstar Energy factory Husqvarna, and he led much of today’s stage, even passing Dakar Rally favorite Joan Barreda, who started the stage 3 minutes ahead of him. Stefan Svitko of Slovakia finished third today.
“Yesterday there was no special stage and it was tough for 540 kilometers of link stage with a lot of rain,” Faria said. “Today I started second behind Barreda. I pushed a little bit and I caught him. After that I rode at a good speed. I don’t know what’s happened, but it was a good stage. I’ve got a good feeling with the bike, the bike was really good. We’re at the beginning of the race, but I’m feeling good.”
Barreda, who normally gets off to fast starts in the Dakar, finished seventh, behind fellow Team HRC rider Paulo Goncalves after starting first. Making up 3 minutes and 4 seconds this early in the event should be possible for the Spanish speedster if he can avoid a crash or a mechanical issue.
“Today was a difficult day, opening the track this morning,” Barreda said. “It was difficult with a lot of danger and a lot of animals in the middle of the tracks. So, I took it easy until the last kilometers before refueling. When I arrived there had been one hour with a lot of mud, and I had to get off the bike and push two or three times because my bike was completely stuck in the mud. After that I had to clean my apparatus. It was slippery with the bike, and I paid the price. Finally, Ruben [Faria] arrived behind me. Ruben was really fast so I decided to ride with him.”
Price said he expected the terrain in tomorrow’s stage to be fairly similar to today’s.
“Day four is when it kicks in with a bit of hard navigation,” he said. “But we’re excited, and it’s good to be back here. It was a long wait and a long stage, around 350 kilometers. We were lucky that had about 50 kilometers taken out of the section. It was a long day in the saddle but, for sure, it’s started well for us. We’re just looking forward to tomorrow now. We’ll make sure we look after the bike. There was a bit of mud out there today, so we’ll give it a good clean up.”
2016 Dakar Rally
Stage 2
Villa Carlos Paz-Termas de Rio Hondo, Argentina
Results: January 4, 2016
1. Toby Price (AUS)-KTM/3 hours, 46 minutes, 24 seconds
2. Ruben Faria (PRT)-Hus/+00:00:20
3. Stefan Svitko (SVK)-KTM/+00:01:28
4. Alain Duclos (FRA)-She/+00:01:28
5. Matthias Walkner (AUT)-KTM/+00:02:00
6. Paulo Goncalves (PRT)-Hon/+00:02:38
7. Joan Barreda (ESP)-Hon/+00:03:22
8. Kevin Benavides (ARG)-Hon/+03:03:36
9. Juan Pedrero Garcia (ESP)-She/+00:04:25
10. Pablo Quintanilla (CHL)-Hus/+00:04:32
2016 Dakar Rally Standings (After 2 of 13 stages)
1. Toby Price (AUS)-KTM/3 hours, 53 minutes, 09 seconds
2. Ruben Faria (PRT)-Hus/+00:01:02
3. Alain Duclos (FRA)-She/+00:01:53
4. Matthias Walkner (AUT)-KTM/+00:01:59
5. Stefan Svitko (SVK)-KTM/+00:02:21
6. Joan Barreda (ESP)-Hon/+00:03:04
7. Paulo Goncalves (PRT)-Hon/+00:03:20
8. Kevin Benavides (ARG)-Hon/+03:03:26
9. Pablo Quintanilla (CHL)-Hus/+00:04:24
10. Juan Pedrero Garcia (ESP)-She/+00:04:30
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