- Husqvarna’s Pablo Quintanilla clinches second stage win
- Honda’s Ricky Brabec retains his lead in the overall standings
- TVS’ Adrien Metge continues to be in the top 20
The 2020 Dakar Rally moved into its penultimate stage yesterday with the riders covering a total distance of 744kms from Shubaytah to Haradh in Saudi Arabia.
Stage 11 witnessed a nail-biting action as Husqvarna’s Pablo Quintanilla and KTM’s Matthias Walkner fought neck-to-neck for the stage win. Although Pablo outpaced his fellow riders in the initial part of the stage, Matthias closed in on him and managed to overtake after 324km into the stage. However, it was in the final phase of the rally that Pablo pushed harder and won the stage nine seconds ahead of Matthias. The KTM rider was closely followed by his teammate Luciano Benavides who finished third.
Although this was Pablo’s second stage win, the overall standings is still led by Honda’s Ricky Brabec, which is despite him finishing stage 11 at 10th position. Now, Pablo is just 13m56s behind Ricky in the overall rankings. Meanwhile, KTM’s Toby Price stands on third position, 22m34s behind the leading rider Ricky, and finished stage 11 on 5th spot.
As for the Indian team Sherco TVS, its French rider Adrien Metge continues to be in the top 20 as he finished the day on 16th position and stands 12th in the overall standings. His Indian teammate Harith Noah, competing in the ‘Dakar Experience’ class, complete the stage on 25th position.
Now, it’s time for the final stage which will decide who takes away the trophy of the 2020 edition of the iconic rally event. The day will see riders moving from Haradh to Qiddiya, covering a distance of 429km with a short 167km of special section.
