Dakar 2016 – Stage 5

Stage 5 was a day for KTM as they swept the top three spots on the day. Factory KTM rider Toby Price won the day and it seemed his teammate Antoine Meo had second until a 5 minute penalty pushed Meo back to seventh. KTM still filled out the top top three spots, with 450 Rally Replica Team KTM rider Stefan Svitko taking second and also 450 Rally Replica Team KTM rider Matthias Walker rounding out the podium.

Team HRC Rally Honda rider Joan Barreda finished fourth, with his teammate Paulo Goncalves finishing 12th in the stage; according to the team website Goncalves suffered altitude sickness on the stage, which reached the course’s highest altitude of 4,600M (that’s over 15,000 feet!) on the way to crossing from Argentina into Bolivia. Even with his relatively poor finish he remains in the rally’s overall lead.

As for the five American Racers, Ricky Brabec ws 23rd in the stage and dropped back two positions in the rally; he is now 18th overall. Ian Blythe finished the stage in 35th which improved his overall ranking by one place, putting him in 42nd. Alexander Smith moved from 64th to 59th thanks to a 51st position in the stage. Scott Bright moved up from 71st to 67th with a 64th on the day, and CR Gittere sits in 91st overall after a 94th on the day, dropping him back three spots.