Stage 13 of the Dakar Rally 2023 in Saudi Arabia was led by Ross Branch for Hero MotoSports Team Rally, with Branch finishing Stage 13 in 9th place, closely followed by Sebastian Buhler and Franco Caimi who finished the stage in 10th and 11th place respectively.
Stage 13 took the competitors from the Empty Quarter to Al Hofuf, northward along the Saudi Arabian border. The special section on Stage 13 was a 153km ride in the sand, while the road trip to Al Hofuf itself totalled over 500km. This was a very physically intense day for the riders, with the stage consisting almost entirely of sand dunes, and the last quarter of the Rally saw competitors up the pace and ride at max attack for a place on the podium.
Franco Caimi had a tough time during the stage, thanks to the leg injuries that he sustained from a crash in the earlier Stage 12. Despite the injuries however, Franco finished the stage in 11th place, with his consistent performance throughout the rally earning him the 10th position in the overall standings. Sebastian Buhler and Ross Branch both took it easy in the stage, finishing in the top 10, in 10th and 8th position respectively. In the overall standings, Buhler is currently at 14th position, with Ross ranking at 16th place in the overall class standings.
The final stage of Dakar Rally 2023 edition will be a short and fast 136km special running along the shores of the Arabian Gulf, and this edition of the Dakar Rally – often proclaimed to be the world’s most gruelling race for both man and machine – will end with a grand celebration at the seafront podium at Dammam, after the 8500+ km trip across the country that spanned a fortnight.