Quintanilla wins first stage of Dakar 2020

Quintanilla won his first stage in this Dakar. He closed the gap to American rider Ricky Brabec (Honda) by four minutes, who remains comfortable in the overall lead with nearly 21 minutes over the Chilean.

This was the first stage in the motorcycles category after the fatal accident of Portuguese rider Paulo Gonçalves (Hero) in the seventh stage, which led to the cancellation of the eighth day of competition as a sign of mourning for the 40-year-old Portuguese's death.

Barreda, one of the Dakar riders most affected by Gonçalves' death, who was his teammate, finished third and for the third consecutive stage ended up among the top three.

The rider from Castellón has significantly improved his performance in this second week of competition, after a very discreet first week of the rally where he struggled a lot due to the tough tracks, mountain paths, and rocky roads where the first part of this race took place.

Brabec finished fourth, without taking risks and managing his advantage, which would allow him to celebrate his first Dakar victory in three days and for Honda to break an 18-year uninterrupted dominance of their rival, Austrian KTM.

Argentinean rider Kevin Benavides (Honda), who won the last stage in which Gonçalves passed away, finished fifth despite being the first rider to start the stage and open the way for the rest of the competitors following him.

Benavides was followed by his younger brother Luciano (KTM), who is having a solid Dakar and is 41 minutes behind Brabec, with similar times to Austrian Matthias Walkner (KTM), his teammate and winner of the rally in 2018.

The ninth stage of the Dakar took place between Wadi Al Dawasir and Haradh, an oil enclave in the south of the country located on Ghawar, the world's largest oil field.

The stage was the longest of the entire rally, with 891 kilometers, of which 476 were liaison and 410 timed on mostly dirt and sand.

Dakar 2020 is taking place entirely in Saudi Arabia from January 5th to 17th, with twelve stages and a route of almost 8,000 kilometers, of which more than 5,000 are timed, starting in Jeddah, the second-largest city in the country, and finishing in Qiddiya, a large entertainment city being built on the outskirts of the capital Riyadh.