2017 Dakar Rally – Stage 2: Toby Price Takes Over the Lead

Today marks the real start of the 2017 Dakar Rally, with Stage 2 taking competitors on a 803km trip (275km on the timed special) through the Chaco region of Argentina. Navigation wasn’t too hard on the racers for this stage, though the heat and humidity persisted and road hazards abounded.

This allowed KTM’s Toby Price to pull out a small lead over the competition, which doesn’t mean much in the standings, but sets him up with clear road for tomorrow’s stage start, which could prove to be a strong advantage as the Dakar Rally gains in elevation.

Finishing behind Price was KTM teammate Matthias Walkner, who got caught speeding during the liaison section and suffered a five-minute penalty for it. This dropped Walkner to 15th for the day, and put Paulo Gonçalves into the day’s #2 spot – a good position for the Honda rider.

Yamaha’s Xaiver de Soultrait has another strong day, as he rounded out the third-place position on Stage 2. KTM’s Sam Sunderland finished the day fourth, and Husqvarna’s Pablo Quintanilla finished fifth.

In the overall standings, there is less than five minutes covering the Top 7 riders, showing that there is still some sifting left to do, in order to separate the wheat from the chaff. Tomorrow’s 364km special stage should do just that.

Top 15 from Stage 2 – Resistencia to San Miguel de Tucumán

Pos.	Rider	Nation	Team	Bike	Time
1	PRICE Toby	AUS	Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team	KTM	2:37’32”
2	GONCALVES Paulo	POR	Monster Energy Honda Team	Honda	+3’51
3	DE SOULTRAIT Xavier	FRA	Viltais Racing Team HFP	Yamaha	+4’06
4	SUNDERLAND Sam	GBR	Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team	KTM	+4’19
5	QUINTANILLA Pablo	CHI	Husqvarna Factory Rally Team	Husqvarna	+4’48
6	SVITKO Stefan	SLO	Slovnaft Team	KTM	+4’54
7	BRABEC Ricky	USA	Monster Energy Honda Team	Honda	+5’40
8	BARREDA Joan	SPA	Monster Energy Honda Team	Honda	+6’25
9	FARRES Gerard	SPA	Himoinsa Team	KTM	+7’26
10	FAGGOTTER Rodney	AUS	Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team	Yamaha	+7’50
11	PEDRERO Joan	SPA	Sherco TVS Rally Factory	Sherco	+8’09
12	VAN BEVEREN Adrien	FRA	Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team	Yamaha	+8’15
13	WALKNER Matthias	AUT	Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team	KTM	+8’22
14	CERVANTES Iván	SPA	Himoinsa Team	KTM	+10’38
15	MONLEON Armand	SPA	Duust Rally Team	KTM	+10’59

Provisional Top 15 Overall Standings for the 2017 Dakar Rally

Pos.	Rider	Nation	Team	Bike	Time
1	PRICE Toby	AUS	Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team	KTM	3:07’17
2	GONCALVES Paulo	POR	Monster Energy Honda Team	Honda	+2’54
3	SUNDERLAND Sam	GBR	Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team	KTM	+3’23
4	DE SOULTRAIT Xavier	FRA	Viltais Racing Team HFP	Yamaha	+3’41
5	QUINTANILLA Pablo	CHI	Husqvarna Factory Rally Team	Husqvarna	+4’26
6	BRABEC Ricky	USA	Monster Energy Honda Team	Honda	+4’29
7	SVITKO Stefan	SLO	Slovnaft Team	KTM	+4’45
8	BARREDA Joan	SPA	Monster Energy Honda Team	Honda	+5’32
9	PEDRERO Joan	SPA	Sherco TVS Rally Factory	Sherco	+6’46
10	FARRES Gerard	SPA	Himoinsa Team	KTM	+6’49
11	WALKNER Matthias	AUT	Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team	KTM	+2’39
12	VAN BEVEREN Adrien	FRA	Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team	Yamaha	+7’52
13	FAGGOTTER Rodney	AUS	Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team	Yamaha	+8’50
14	CERVANTES Iván	SPA	Himoinsa Team	KTM	+10’09
15	BOTTURI Alessandro	ITA	Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team	Yamaha	+11’08