Riyadh, Jan 13 (PTI) Hero MotoSports Team Rally rider Sebastian Buhler had a strong sixth finish, while Franco Caimi was right behind at eighth position at the completion of Stage 11 of the Dakar Rally 2023 here.
Riding into the unknown territories of the Empty Quarter, Germany’s Buhler crossed the finish line just five minutes behind the winner, while Caimi claiming his third consecutive top-10 finish on Thursday.
The third Hero MotoSports rider Ross Branch finished 16th in the Rally GP class.
The first day of the marathon stage on Thursday was a 428km ride from Shaybah, of which 274 kms formed the timed special.
The stage was all dunes and the riders took extreme care to avoid any mistakes in the stage. As part of the tricky marathon stage, the competitors were on their own with no access to assistance trucks or mechanics at the bivouac, and any mechanical issues needed to be serviced by the riders themselves.
Buhler put in a great pace right from the start of the stage, staying in the top-5 at most check points, before finally crossing the finish line in sixth place. This is the fourth top-10 performance so far for the young German.
However, having suffered some technical mishaps earlier in the race, Buhler finds himself at the 17th position overall in the Rally GP class standings.
Caimi’s third consecutive top-10 finish on Thursday helped him move one more position up to the 12th place in the overall Rally GP class rankings.
Branch, who claimed his second stage victory of the race on Wednesday, lost some time finding his way through the sea of steep dunes, and managed to finish the 280km stage just 12 minutes behind the winner.
However, the couple of hours lost due to technical issues in earlier stages mean Branch is 19th overall in the Rally GP class.
“It was a good stage and I enjoyed riding through the nice desert. It was almost entirely dunes, and I found a good pace with the bike. I was able to ride quite fast, and was fighting in the top-5 throughout the stage, and I’m happy with my result. Tomorrow (Friday) seems to be a similar stage as today (Thursday), so I’ll try to put my best efforts to make another good result,” said Buhler.
Stage 12 will take the riders back to Shaybah from the Marathon bivouac — a 375km ride through the Empty Quarter.
Source: PTI News
