Toby Price was crowned this Saturday as the winner of the Dakar 2016 in motorcycles and became the first Australian winner of this test in 38 editions disputed since 1979.
In this way, the KTM rider took the throne that in the last ten years had only had two kings: the French Cyril Despres and the Spanish Marc Coma.
After finishing third place in 2015 in his debut in the competition, the 28-year-old Australian won the crown in his second participation.
“It is an immense joy to be able to achieve this victory both for the KTM brand and personally. I am very excited about this achievement and now I just want to enjoy it with my family. It was a great effort, “said the winner Toby Price in dialogue with EFE.
Price maintained a good rhythm throughout the competition and, after leading the test in the second stage, remained among the top three during the leadership of Slovak Stefan Svitko (KTM) and Portuguese Paulo Gonçalves (Honda), in addition to being favored by the early abandonments of the Spanish Joan Barreda (Honda), the Austrian Matthias Walkner (KTM) and the Portuguese Ruben Faría (Husqvarna).
The second place went to the Slovak Stefan Svitko (KTM) at 39:41 minutes, while third was the Chilean Pablo Quintanilla (Husqvarna) at 48:48 minutes and fourth the Argentine Kevin Benavides (Honda) at 54:47.
“It was a demanding Dakar and I am very happy with the second place I achieved. After such a hard work of preparation this result generates great satisfaction ”, expressed the Slovak Svitko.
For his part, Chilean Quintanilla celebrated being the best Latin American in the classification and emphasized: «I dedicate it to all those who have supported me throughout this time and to my beloved Chile. I really felt the support of my country ».
For his part, the rookie with Honda and the best rookie in the competition, Kevin Benavides between tears and hugs from the public said: «The truth is that I did not expect this result but luckily it happened. Although I made some mistakes because it was my first Dakar, I am satisfied and now I just have to enjoy myself ».
With this victory for Price, the KTM brand extended its dominance in the motorcycle specialty to fifteen years with consecutive victories.
In this last stage the victory corresponded to Quintanilla, just 1:41 minutes ahead of Benavides and 2:37 of the Portuguese Helder Rodrígues, the three who were competing for the third place on the podium today.
The best Spaniards in the classification were Gerard Farrés (KTM-Himoinsa) in the eighth position, Armand Monleón (KTM) in the tenth position, Laia Sanz (KTM) in the fifteenth, Iván Cervantes (KTM-Himoinsa) in the sixteenth and Jordi Viladoms (KTM).
“It is an immense pleasure to have been able to finish this Dakar in such a good way. It is not the pleasure of being the best Spaniard without knowing that the team managed to finish with its five bikes. This is a team effort ”, emphasized Farrés after crossing the finish line.
«This is a result after two years of intense work to prepare this test. I am leaving more than satisfied with the work done, “said Armand Monleón.
Everything cannot always go well. Not every year you can have the desired performance. The shortening of the stages, the angina and the clavicle pain did not allow me to have the expected Dakar, “added Laia Sanz. EFE
Toby Price, the first Australian winner of the Dakar in motorcycles
