Faced with a little adversity on stage eight of the Dakar Rally, Adrien Van Beveren’s roadbook mechanism stopped working, which forced the Frenchman to operate his navigational device by hand. Unfazed by the additional challenge, the experienced rally racer continued to maintain his high pace, resulting in a strong, ninth-place finish. After leading the rally ahead of stage eight, Van Beveren now drops a couple of spots in the overall provisional classification but remains well placed in third, just under five minutes behind the new leader.
Continuing to move up the leaderboard throughout the Dakar Rally, Andrew Short focused on upping his pace on stage eight in order to reel in the leading riders. Frustratingly, the American couldn’t quite execute his plan as a minor detour slowed his charge. Once back on the right track, Andrew went to work, navigated with perfection, and completed the 395-kilometre special just outside the top 10 in 12th place.
After re-joining the race yesterday, Ross Branch made the difficult decision to withdraw from the Dakar this morning due to pain from the haematoma on his right leg, which was effecting his ability to ride safely, and to his full potential. With a little time needed to make a full recovery, Ross will soon be back to 100%.
In the Light Prototype class, Camelia Liparoti has delivered strong finishes on each stage of the Dakar so far with the Italian now placed eighth in the provisional standings. With almost 40 hours of racing successfully completed in her Yamaha YXZ1000R, Camelia looks to make further progress up the leaderboard through the final four days of the event.
