Dakar Rally 2024: Kevin Benavides, the champion who fractured a month ago and won a stage in the desert

A champion is not just the one who lifts the cup or achieves victory. A champion is someone who gets up as many times as necessary to keep fighting, regardless of the results. In the race of Kevin Benavides There are as many disappointments and hard falls as there are brilliant victories. The fact is that the man from Salta always insists on facing any adversity. And this Monday he celebrated by winning the third stage of the Dakar Rally 2024 on a motorbike, just over a month after breaking his leg.

The defender of the title is always the one who takes it flashes ahead of the most extreme competition on the planet. Benavides made headlines for an event that seemed to marginalize him. A fracture in his left leg 33 days before the start of the Dakar raised the alarm bells. The most extremists indicated that the Argentinian, a KTM rider, would not be in Saudi Arabia.

But for Benavides there are no limits. Not only did he start the Dakar, but he won the stage that ended in Al-Salamiya. “I always believe in my possibilities. And I always deliver everything. I’m going 100%. Maybe physically I’m 70 years old, but I give everything,” Kevin said Clarion in the middle of the marathon stage.

The rider of the official Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team dedicated himself to the Al Duwadimi-Al Salamiya stretch, with a route of 733 kilometres, of which 438 special stages.

The Chilean Pablo Quintanilla (Honda) and Spanish Joan Barreda Bort (Hero) finished first and second but was penalized and given a speeding surcharge, so Benavides jumped from third place to the top of the stage and added his eighth Dakar win.

Kevin won with a time of 4h39m28, second was the American Ricky Brabec with 1’01 and third was the Frenchman Adrien Van Beveren (02’51”) behind the native of Salta. In the general classification, the jumper is sixth, 20’32 behind the leader, Botswana Ross Branch.

Luciano Benavides, current world champion of the specialty, finished 16th and ninth overall, 27 minutes behind. The one who did an excellent job was Diego Llanos from La Rioja, with a smaller displacement bike, finishing 20th and 19th in the standings.

“It was a very tough stage, with a lot of navigation. I started from behind and focused on myself roadbookas there were times when it was very easy to get lost,” commented Benavides.

However, Kevin changed his tone when he recalled the complex moments he experienced just four weeks ago: “It is a great emotion and a caress to achieve a victory after difficult days. I sincerely thank all the people who helped me and who had faith in me. I will stay focused because there is still a lot of racing to do.”

Kevin holds his head as he recalls the injury. “The stupidest thing that can happen to you,” he explains. I was doing the last test in California, I get on the bike and after 30 meters I bend my leg. It hurt a lot and when I examined myself I had a fractured tibia and fibula. Incredible”.

Benavides traveled to Barcelona to undergo surgery, from which he emerged in excellent condition to continue his recovery. He returned to Salta, focused on specific jobs, one day he spoke to the press and promised that he would make it to the Dakar. So it was.

“I know it seems crazy to have a fracture and race the Dakar in a month. I knew I could do it. Now we’ll see if the leg can handle the race. For now I don’t suffer any consequences, but this race is very long. That’s 15 days of extreme demand. I hope I can continue like this,” she added.

A roller coaster of emotions

The 2023 season had the ups and downs that Kevin faced during his campaign. In January he won his second Dakar, after the previous one was in 2021, in Saudi Arabia.

From that moment on, however, things did not go as planned. Ahead of the second round of the World Rally Raid Championship, the man from Salta suffered a fractured femur during training ahead of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge.

Benavides had to undergo surgery immediately. In the end the recovery time was shorter than one might have expected. Kevin returned at the end of April and competed in the Sorona Rally, the third round of the World Championship. Then, before the Ruta 40 Challenge, an injury sidelined him again.

The marathon stage

In the Dakar, the Marathon Stage consists of two days separated by a night in which the crew members live exclusively in a camp, without the participation of the teams and assistance.

The organization has foreseen two hours of contact between the pilots and their structures, given that the Dakar 2024 will have the new “48 Hours”, another stage of the Marathon, but with the characteristic that there will be more fields distributed so that the pilots can disperse.

On quadricycles, Manu Andújar He is second overall, 1m21 behind Slovakian Juraj Varga, after finishing in the same position in the stage. And in cars, Juan Cruz Yacopini He is in 22nd place, 1h02m58 from the surprising leader, the Saudi Yazeed Al Rajhi, who precedes the Spaniard Carlos Sainz by 29 seconds.

This Tuesday the Marathon stage towards Al Hofuf will end, with a total distance of 631 kilometres, of which 299 special stages.

Special for Clarin.