BENAVIDES FOURTH ON ABU DHABI STAGE FOUR

1st Rd. Rally 2019 – Abu Dhabi (UAE)

Stage four, the penultimate of the rally, challenged riders with a long 286.10-kilometre timed special through the large dunes to the west and south of Mezaira’a in the Liwa Desert. With two long liaison sections leading to and from the special, the total distance travelled was an exhausting 520.66 kilometres, all ridden in the UAE heat. 

Continuing his fast, yet intelligent ride at this year’s event, Luciano Benavides put in an extremely strong performance on today’s technical stage. Hunting down the riders ahead of him, the Argentinian caught first his brother, Kevin Benavides, and later his teammate on the way to his fourth-place finish. Luciano now lies third overall in the provisional standings and enjoys a strong start position for tomorrow’s final stage. 

Luciano Benavides: “It’s been a very good day for me today. I started really fast until I caught my brother at kilometre 90, from there we rode together which was great so I really enjoyed the day. Towards the end we caught Sam and I think by opening we lost a few minutes, but I am really happy with my overall position and how I have been riding. The bike has been perfect and the team have been doing a great job. I’m looking forward to the last day tomorrow.” 

Leading competitors out into the day’s stage, Sam Sunderland maintained an excellent pace on what has been one of the most technical timed specials of the event. With cloudier conditions greeting the riders, navigation was trickier than ever and yet Sunderland led the stage from start-to-finish, ultimately posting the seventh fastest time and retaining his lead in the provisional overall standings. 

Sam Sunderland: “Obviously, opening the stage today made for a challenging day – the longest stage of the race. It has been the most off-piste section we have had so far, so it was really tricky to pick your lines and navigate. I did lose some time on the others, but this is the strategy you have to take to be in with a chance of winning this event. I’m pleased with how I rode and I’m still leading the race, so hopefully we’ll have another good day tomorrow.” 

Stage five of the 2019 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, the final of the rally, will cover 351.96km in total, including a 214.47km timed special in the dunes of the United Arab Emirates.

 Provisional Results Stage four – 2019 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge

 1. Jose Ignacio Cornejo (CHL), Honda, 3:53:46 
2. Joan Barreda (ESP), Honda, 3:56:47 +3:01 
3. Andrew Short (USA), Husqvarna, 3:57:31 +3:45 
4. Luciano Benavides (ARG), KTM, 3:58:25 +4:39 
5. Aaron Mare (ZAF), KTM, 4:01:49 +8:03 
Other KTM 
7. Sam Sunderland (GBR), KTM, 4:06:19 +12:33 
8. Mohammed Meshari Jaffar (KWT), KTM, 4:06:21 +12:35 

Provisional Overall Standings (after Stage Four) – 2019 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge

 1. Sam Sunderland (GBR), KTM, 15:06:43 
2. Jose Ignacio Cornejo (CHL), Honda, 15:07:01 +0:18 
3. Luciano Benavides (ARG), KTM, 15:11:37 +4:54
 4. Kevin Benavides (ARG), Honda, 15:27:59 +21:16 
5. Andrew Short (USA), Husqvarna, 15:42:31 +35:48 
Other KTM
 8. Mohammed Meshari Jaffar (KWT), KTM, 16:23:26 +1:16:43 
9. Mohammed Al Balooshi (ARE), KTM, 16:32:23 +1:25:40 
10. Aaron Mare (ZAF), KTM, 38:11:33 +23:04:50

www.ktm.com | media.ktm.com
Facebook | YouTube | Twitter | Instagram