Dakar 2021: Benavides wins stage five despite broken nose

Monster Honda’s Kevin Benavides has taken charge of the overall Dakar 2021 rankings despite a crash and broken nose.

Benavides won stage five by a minute from team-mate Jose Cornejo with Toby Price in third, a further 20 seconds back. He also leads Xavier De Soultrait by two minutes and 31 second on the overall leaderboard.

“It was a really hard day for me. At the beginning I got lost like all the riders, but after that I started to push a lot. On one dune I jumped, a big jump, and I crashed because I hit another big one with the front wheel,” said Benavides.

“I banged my head like this and broke the GPS and everything. I cut myself too and started to lose a lot of blood. There was also some pain around my ankle. In the end, I continued and kept pushing with a lot of pain, so, yeah, it was really hard for me today.

“My nose is broken and also I broke the helmet, it was really hard. I think I’ll be okay for tomorrow. I’m in pain, but it will be ok. I also tried to push on the last part to win some time, but it was hard and there was a lot of pain today. But it’s like that, this is the Dakar.”

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Results Dakar 21 stage five

1	47	(ARG) KEVIN BENAVIDES	MONSTER ENERGY HONDA TEAM 2021	05H 09′ 50”
2	4	(CHL) JOSE IGNACIO CORNEJO FLORIMO	MONSTER ENERGY HONDA TEAM 2021	05H 10′ 50”	+ 00H 01′ 00”
3	3	(AUS) TOBY PRICE	RED BULL KTM FACTORY TEAM	05H 11′ 10”	+ 00H 01′ 20”
4	15	(ESP) LORENZO SANTOLINO	SHERCO FACTORY	05H 12′ 19”	+ 00H 02′ 29”
5	5	(GBR) SAM SUNDERLAND	RED BULL KTM FACTORY TEAM	05H 14′ 07”	+ 00H 04′ 17”
6	12	(FRA) XAVIER DE SOULTRAIT	HT RALLY RAID HUSQVARNA RACING	05H 17′ 45”	+ 00H 07′ 55”
7	9	(USA) SKYLER HOWES	BAS DAKAR KTM RACING TEAM	05H 20′ 33”	+ 00H 10′ 43”
8	52	(AUT) MATTHIAS WALKNER	RED BULL KTM FACTORY TEAM	05H 20′ 53”	+ 00H 11′ 03”
9	18	(BWA) ROSS BRANCH	MONSTER ENERGY YAMAHA RALLY TEAM	05H 20′ 55”	+ 00H 11′ 05”
10	2	(CHL) PABLO QUINTANILLA	ROCKSTAR ENERGY HUSQVARNA FACTORY RACING	05H 22′ 05”	+ 00H 12′ 15”
11	11	(SVK) STEFAN SVITKO	SLOVNAFT RALLY TEAM	05H 23′ 29”	+ 00H 13′ 39”
12	1	(USA) RICKY BRABEC	MONSTER ENERGY HONDA TEAM 2021	05H 24′ 02”	+ 00H 14′ 12”
13	77	(ARG) LUCIANO BENAVIDES	ROCKSTAR ENERGY HUSQVARNA FACTORY RACING	05H 24′ 13”	+ 00H 14′ 23”
14	22	(POL) MACIEJ GIEMZA	ORLEN TEAM	05H 25′ 40”	+ 00H 15′ 50”
15	21	(AUS) DANIEL SANDERS	KTM FACTORY TEAM	05H 25′ 51”	+ 00H 16′ 01”
16	74	(ESP) JAUME BETRIU	FN SPEED – KTM TEAM	05H 28′ 17”	+ 00H 18′ 27”
17	88	(ESP) JOAN BARREDA BORT	MONSTER ENERGY HONDA TEAM 2021	05H 29′ 01”	+ 00H 19′ 11”
18	6	(ARG) FRANCO CAIMI	MONSTER ENERGY YAMAHA RALLY TEAM	05H 34′ 24”	+ 00H 24′ 34”
19	31	(CZE) MARTIN MICHEK	ORION – MOTO RACING GROUP	05H 37′ 03”	+ 00H 27′ 13”
20	24	(DEU) SEBASTIAN BÜHLER	HERO MOTOSPORTS TEAM RALLY	05H 40′ 14”	+ 00H 30′ 24”
21	32	(ESP) TOSHA SCHAREINA	FN SPEED – KTM TEAM	05H 41′ 32”	+ 00H 31′ 42”
22	27	(PRT) JOAQUIM RODRIGUES	HERO MOTOSPORTS TEAM RALLY	05H 41′ 41”	+ 00H 31′ 51”
23	42	(FRA) ADRIEN VAN BEVEREN	MONSTER ENERGY YAMAHA RALLY TEAM	05H 44′ 21”	+ 00H 34′ 31”
24	54	(FRA) CAMILLE CHAPELIERE	TEAM BAINES RALLY	05H 46′ 37”	+ 00H 36′ 47”
25	26	(CZE) MILAN ENGEL	ORION – MOTO RACING GROUP	05H 47′ 52”	+ 00H 38′ 02”
26	44	(ESP) LAIA SANZ	GAS GAS FACTORY TEAM	05H 49′ 29”	+ 00H 39′ 39”
27	17	(ESP) JOAN PEDRERO GARCIA	FN SPEED – RIEJU TEAM	05H 51′ 11”	+ 00H 41′ 21”
28	142	(ITA) MAURIZIO GERINI	SOLARYS RACING	05H 53′ 04”	+ 00H 43′ 14”
29	87	(ESP) ORIOL MENA	FN SPEED – RIEJU TEAM	05H 55′ 34”	+ 00H 45′ 44”
30	76	(CZE) ROMAN KREJCI	BO!BETON TEAM	05H 59′ 05”	+ 00H 49′ 15”
31	20	(POL) ADAM TOMICZEK	ORLEN TEAM	05H 59′ 27”	+ 00H 49′ 37”
32	30	(LTU) ARUNAS GELAZNINKAS	ZIGMAS DAKAR TEAM	06H 01′ 51”	+ 00H 52′ 01”
33	29	(ROU) EMANUEL GYENES	AUTONET MOTORCYCLE TEAM	06H 05′ 37”	+ 00H 55′ 47”
34	19	(PRT) RUI GONCALVES	SHERCO FACTORY	06H 08′ 14”	+ 00H 58′ 24”
35	37	(CZE) DAVID PABISKA	JANTAR TEAM	06H 17′ 57”	+ 01H 08′ 07”

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