Following on yesterday’s performance which saw him reach the finish of stage eight of the 2025 Dakar Rally in 35th place, Northallerton motorcycle endurance ace Robbie Wallace went one better when another superb ride saw him in 34th overall on today’s stage.
The 27-year-old North Yorkshire rider once again enjoyed the rock-strewn and fast-flowing gravel tracks without the energy-sapping sand dunes for a second day around the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh whereby he completed another 589km (365 miles) to continue his progress up the overall leaderboard.
Today’s result means the X Raids Experience TCC Plant-sponsored 450cc KTM rider is now up to 87th overall and now lies 77th in the Rally2 class and 21st Rookie with just three relatively shorter stages remaining before the finish on Friday.
Robbie Wallace: “Today was another super-fast day which I’ve now got under my belt. It was quite short too, which meant there was less chance of errors, but as if I needed a reminder, I passed two riders getting loaded up into the medical helicopter having been caught out on the unforgiving rocks. I’m quite thankful that I finished in one piece as the pace was so quick today. Tomorrow, it’s back to sand, sand and more sand in the Empty Quarter which isn’t my strong point, but it’s only a short stage and I’ll give it my best shot as normal.”
Wednesday’s stage from Haradh to Shubaytah, where the rally finishes on Friday, has only 115km (72 miles) of competitive sections, which is the shortest of the event, although there is still a mighty 520km (323 miles) of tricky liaison sections to negotiate.
Results after Stage 9 – Riyadh to Haradh
Position on Stage: 34th
Overall Position: 87th
Rally2 Position: 77th
Rookie Position: 21st
Overall Time: 133h 57′ 00”
Total Penalties: 58h 07’ 00”
Time Behind Leader: 86h 11′ 26”
Distance Covered: 6,313 km
Distance To Go: 1,305 km
SAND SNIPPETS
- Great riders are recognized by their ability to navigate a stage alone and thus win two consecutive stages. That is what Luciano Benavides managed to do today, as he improved his roll of honour with the fifth stage victory of his career on the Dakar and moved up to fourth place in the general rankings for his best ever position.
- The Argentinean KTM rider beat Frenchman Adrien Van Beveren on the Honda by one minute, 54 seconds on today’s ninth stage. It also meant AVB closed in on his Spanish teammate Tosha Schareina, who was off the pace due to a fall at the beginning of the special but still holds second place. This battle for the podium is occurring some way behind race leader Daniel Sanders (KTM), who will tackle the decisive stage ten with a lead of 14 minutes and 45 seconds.
Pictures attached courtesy of EdoPhoto, higher resolution versions and a selection of others are available upon request.
More updates as the event progresses and further details at www.dakar.com.
Notes to Editors
The 47th edition of the Dakar will see around 140 motorcycle competitors, as well as hundreds of car, buggy and truck drivers from all over the world converge on Bisha in the south west of Saudi Arabia starting with technical checks and administration on January 1st/2nd 2025 and then the Prologue on January 3rd 2025 before the competition starts in earnest the following day. There then follows a mighty 950km stage over two days on varied terrain, with competitors required to camp out overnight in the desert in a bivouac. At least five stages of the 2025 Dakar will take place on separate courses for safety purposes to reduce the danger of cars and trucks overtaking bikes, and another feature of the 2025 event is riders will have to service their own bikes for up to 800km on a couple of days. After 14 days incorporating 12 stages, Shubaytah, in the eastern part of the country and near the Abu Dhabi border, will welcome the weary finishers.
ENDS
