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Benavides claims closest Dakar Rally victory by just two seconds
Argentine rider Luciano Benavides secured his maiden motorcycle title at the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, capitalizing on a critical navigation blunder by his American rival Ricky Brabec just seven kilometers from the finish line. The razor-thin two-second margin marks the tightest victory in the event's 48-year history.
Benavides, aged 30, turned a more than three-minute deficit at the start of the day into triumph during the 13th and final 105-kilometer stage around the Red Sea port city of Yanbu. Brabec, a two-time Dakar winner chasing a third crown, had built a 3:20 lead through a bold tactical slowdown in stage 11, securing a later start position. Yet his hopes shattered in the closing kilometers when he veered onto the wrong track, forcing a U-turn that handed Benavides the breakthrough.
"In the last three kilometers, Ricky took the wrong path and I took the right one," Benavides said on the official Dakar website. "I saw it was him and that he had to turn back because crossing between the two was impossible. I saw the opening and went for it." Spain's Edgar Canet claimed the stage win for KTM, with Benavides finishing second, six seconds behind his teammate. Brabec crossed the line 10th in the stage, 3:28 adrift.
This win makes the Benavides brothers the first siblings to both conquer the Dakar, following Kevin Benavides' triumphs in 2021 and 2023 the latter previously the narrowest margin at 43 seconds. "Nine years at Dakar and my first victory. My brother and I are making history," Luciano said. "He won by 43 seconds and me by two. I think I beat him on that one!" The result brings KTM's Dakar tally to 21, after Australian Daniel Sanders' 20th for the team last year; Sanders led this edition until a stage 10 crash ended his bid. Spain's Tosha Schareina rounded out the podium for Honda, 25:12 behind.
