Dakar 2020: Privateer Ross Branch takes charge in the second stage

The second stage of Dakar 2020 has concluded and KTM privateer Ross Branch took the win in this super marathon stage. Redbull KTM factory rider Sam Sunderland followed at the second position while Husqvarna Factory racer Pablo Quintanilla finished at the third spot.

Title defender Toby Price and Brabec faced some difficulties in the initial part of the 393km stage which led to Price dropping seven minutes in the first 52km of the race. Toby managed to finish the stage at the 15th spot while Brabec ended at 11th.

Hero MotoSports Team Rally

Paulo Goncalves finished the stage at the 12th spot, the same position as the first stage. Sebastian Buhler concluded the stage at the 21st position while CS Santosh ended up finishing at 53. The reason for the delay is yet to be known. JRod, who faced mechanical issues in the last stage and had to forfeit the stage, did not participate in the second stage.

Sherco TVS Factory Rally team

The Sherco TVS team, on the other hand, faired well, with Lorenzo Santolino and Adrien Metge finishing at the 17th and 18th places respectively while Johnny Aubert ended the stage at 22nd spot. Harith Noah, who had a crash yestrday and finished the opening stage at the 111th spot, concluded the second stage at 51st position.

Sam Sunderland, who now leads the leaderboard, said, “It’s the Super Marathon stage, so we have to try and take care of the bike the best we can. I used the rear brake quite a lot today and I just wanted to change the pads just to be safe for tomorrow. It was a really difficult day, really long with big variations in terrain and navigation, from high speed to really slow and technical, in and out of the canyons with a lot of tracks that were less visible. All in all, it was a good day and I’m just trying to keep a steady rhythm, to keep building throughout the race. It’s not so easy when you’re in the dust because you have to pay so much attention to the tracks in front of you, to not lose the way and try to miss any rocks… It's really difficult, really difficult so far".