Matthias Walkner climbs in the leader’s seat
Stage 10 of Dakar 2018 marked the first miles on Argentinian soil. The temperatures were much warmer than in general with almost 40°C in the shade. The special was a mix of sandy terrain and river beds. The race became even more tricky when the navigation errors made in the second half of the special opened up a 39minutes gap between the leader and the following platoon.
Matthias Walkner is the hero of the day. The official Red Bull KTM rider approached the special at a steady pace with great care for the navigation. The Belén river beds raised big navigation problems for Kevin Benavides, Toby Price and Antoine Meo. They strayed almost 10 km from the track adding up 50 minutes to their overall time.
The former leader in the general standings, the Frenchman Adrien van Beveren tried to keep his position but, unfortunately, he crashed three kilometres before the finish line. The high-speed fall caused him some serious injury and, he was forced to withdraw from this years Dakar.
Toby Price: “It’s one of those days you want to forget. A bit tough, but that's the way it is. I've just got to try and see what the rest of the week will bring now. For us it’s pretty much done. We’ll just keep plugging away each day and see what happens. You never know, but it’s not looking too good… That’s the way it is”.
Stage 10 results
1. M. WALKNER – KTM – 004:52:26
2. P. QUINTANILLA – HUSQVARNA – 005:04:01 +00:11:35
3. G. FARRES GUELL – KTM – 005:08:47 +00:16:21
4. O. MENA – HERO – 005:13:11 +00:20:45
5. J. PEDRERO GARCIA – SHERCO TVS – 005:13:50 +00:21:24
6. J. AUBERT – GAS GAS RALLY REPLICA – 005:14:55 +00:22:29
7. JI. CORNEJO FLORIMO – HONDA – 005:15:40 +00:23:14
8. A. SHORT – HUSQVARNA – 005:16:39 +00:24:13
9. M. SAMUELS – HONDA – 005:17:16 +00:24:50
10. D. OLIVERAS CARRERAS – KTM – 005:17:51 +00:25:25
Overall standings after stage 10
1. M. WALKNER – KTM – 32:21:03
2. J. BARREDA BORT – HONDA – 33:00:45 +0:39:42
3. K. BENAVIDES – HONDA – 33:02:26 +0:41:23
4. G. FARRES GUELL – KTM – 33:08:49 +0:47:46
5. T. PRICE – KTM – 33:11:21 +0:50:18