2017 Dakar Rally – Stage 11: Another One for Honda

The penultimate stage of the 2017 Dakar Rally, Stage 11 was the last true opportunity for riders to make a run at the leaderboard, as Saturday’s stage involved only a 64km timed special.

With 286km of sand and dunes to navigate, it was once again the Honda riders that headed the pack. Leading from start to finish, Joan Barreda took his fourth stage victory (don’t let the Dakar video fool you with its lies), followed by his teammate Paulo Gonçalves, for another Honda one-two stage victory.

The result moved both Honda riders to well under their one-hour time penalty from early in the race, showing the strong pace and program that HRC has put together for the Dakar Rally.

Yamaha Racing too showed it promise, with Adrien van Beveren taking the third spot in the day’s honors. That result moves him, and Yamaha, closer to a podium in Buenos Aires (though not into third place yet, as the Dakar Rally video says).

Meanwhile at the top of the overall leaderboard, we saw the KTM riders doing a more conservative race, managing the half-hour gap to their would-be usurpers.

Sam Sunderland extended his lead by several minutes, finishing fourth for the day. With teammate Matthias Walkner finishing the day 10th, Sunderland extended his overall lead by several minutes.

Going into Buenos Aires, we don’t expect the overall order to change much. Though, we should warn, the Dakar is notorious for its sudden challenges.

Top 15 from Stage 11 – San Juan to Río Cuarto:

Pos.	Rider	Nation	Team	Bike	Time
1	BARREDA Joan	SPA	Monster Energy Honda Team	Honda	3:16’57
2	GONCALVES Paulo	POR	Monster Energy Honda Team	Honda	+1’50
3	VAN BEVEREN Adrien	FRA	Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team	Yamaha	+5’28
4	FARRES Gerard	SPA	Himoinsa Team	KTM	+7’54
5	SUNDERLAND Sam	GBR	Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team	KTM	+9’15
6	RENET Pierre-Alexandre	FRA	Husqvarna Factory Rally Team	Husqvarna	+9’52
7	METGE Michael	FRA	Monster Energy Honda Team	Honda	+10’55
8	CAIMI Franco	ARG	Honda South America Rally Team	Honda	+12’11
9	SVITKO Stefan	SLO	Slovnaft Team	KTM	+12’21
10	WALKNER Matthias	AUT	Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team	KTM	+12’23
11	PEDRERO Joan	SPA	Sherco TVS Rally Factory	Sherco	+12’57
12	METGE Adrien	FRA	Sherco TVS Rally Factory	Sherco	+15’36
13	RODRIGUES Helder	POR	Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team	Yamaha	+18’36
14	RODRIGUES Joaquim	POR	Hero Motorsports Team Rally	Hero	+20’59
15	DUPLESSIS Martín	ARG	Asistencia Med	KTM	+21’12

Provisional Top 15 Overall Standings for the 2017 Dakar Rally:

Pos.	Rider	Nation	Team	Bike	Time
1	SUNDERLAND Sam	GBR	Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team	KTM	31:34’11
2	WALKNER Matthias	AUT	Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team	KTM	+33’09
3	FARRES Gerard	SPA	Himoinsa Team	KTM	+37’22
4	VAN BEVEREN Adrien	FRA	Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team	Yamaha	+38’10
5	BARREDA Joan	SPA	Monster Energy Honda Team	Honda	+44’32
6	GONCALVES Paulo	POR	Monster Energy Honda Team	Honda	+52’46
7	RENET Pierre-Alexandre	FRA	Husqvarna Factory Rally Team	Husqvarna	+56’01
8	CAIMI Franco	ARG	Honda South America Rally Team	Honda	+1:40’53
9	RODRIGUES Helder	POR	Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team	Yamaha	+2:00’46
10	RODRIGUES Joaquim	POR	Hero Motorsports Team Rally	Hero	+2:20’53
11	SALVATIERRA Juan Carlos	BOL	Duust Rally Team	KTM	+2:21’35
12	KLYMCIW Ondrej	CZE	Klymciw Racing	Husqvarna	+2:22:00
13	PEDRERO Joan	SPA	Sherco TVS Rally Factory	Sherco	+2:31:00
14	METGE Michael	FRA	Monster Energy Honda Team	Honda	+2:37’13
15	SANZ Laia	SPA	KTM Factory Racing Team	KTM	+3:00’30