Last year, Benavides won the desert adventure just ahead of his stablemate Price and Skyler Howes, who has since switched from Husqvarna to Honda. Walkner, who retired after a fall on the penultimate stage last year, had a serious accident before the new edition – Benavides also struggled with the consequences of a fall injury until the end.
Despite the suboptimal starting position, KTM is confident. “The bikes are ready and we are well equipped. Toby has had a really strong season and is in good shape, extremely fit and fully focused. Although Kevin is not yet at 100 percent, he wants to be successful in the Dakar. He is confident that he will be close to full fitness again by the start,” explained team manager Andreas Hölzl.
Walkner “went through hell”
Motorcycle star Matthias Walkner gave his first TV interview after the crash at the beginning of December. The serious foot injury he sustained almost led to amputation.
Premiere for 48-hour stage
After the prologue on Friday in Alula, almost 8,000 km on twelve stages await the big Dakar entourage until January 19th, with around 5,000 being special kilometers. For the first time, a 48-hour section with a complete rest period must be completed.
Graphics: APA/ORF.at; Source: dakar.com The route map of the 46th edition of the desert rally
In the absence of Walkner, who is out with multiple leg injuries after his training accident in the USA, two Austrians, Tobias Ebster (KTM) and Ardit Kurtaj (Husqvarna), will compete without team support. Ebster is the nephew of Heinz Kinigadner. Like the Albanian Kurtaj, who lives in Carinthia, the 26-year-old Tyrolean is taking part in his first Dakar Rally.
TV note
In the show “Sport on Sunday” (6 p.m., live on ORF1) Among other things, you can see a detailed conversation with Matthias Walkner.
In the car category, all eyes will be on the Prodrive cars of Nasser al-Attija and Sebastien Loeb. After two recent triumphs for Toyota, the five-time Dakar winner Attija switched to the Frenchman’s team ahead of Loeb.
Lukas Lauda fulfills his childhood dream
In the Challenger buggy class T3, Lukas Lauda is tackling the Dakar for the first time. The eldest son of Formula 1 legend Niki Lauda drives a CanAm Maverick from South Racing. His co-driver is the experienced German Stefan Henken, with whom Kinigadner brought him together. “We are a really good team. Stefan taught me everything, I’m still learning,” said Lauda.
The 44-year-old, who worked in motorsport management for many years, including for his brother Mathias, is fulfilling a childhood dream with this start. “The Dakar has always been the biggest race and the biggest adventure for me. My goal is to learn a lot and try to become the best rookie.”
Dakar Rallye 2024 stage plan
05.01. Prolog Rund um al-Ula (28 km) 06.01. 1. Etappe al-Ula – al-Hinakija (414 km) 07.01. 2. Etappe al-Hinakija – al-Dawadimi (463 km) 08.01. 3. Etappe al-Dawadimi – al-Salamija (438 km) 09.01. 4. Etappe al-Salamija – Hofuf (299 km) 10.01. 5. Etappe Hofuf – Schubajta (118 km) 11./12.01. 6. Etappe Rund um Schubajta (572 km) 13.01. Ruhetag 14.01. 7. Etappe Riad – ad-Dawadimi (483 km) 15.01. 8. Etappe al-Dawadimi – Ha’il (458 km) 16.01. 9. Etappe Ha’il – al-Ula (417 km) 17.01. 10. Etappe Rund um al-Ula (371 km) 18.01. 11. Etappe al-Ula – Janbu (480 km) 19.01. 12. Etappe Rund um Janbu (175 km)
