Monster Honda’s Kevin Benavides has taken charge of the overall Dakar 2021 rankings despite a crash and broken nose.

Benavides won stage five by a minute from team-mate Jose Cornejo with Toby Price in third, a further 20 seconds back. He also leads Xavier De Soultrait by two minutes and 31 second on the overall leaderboard.

ā€œIt was a really hard day for me. At the beginning I got lost like all the riders, but after that I started to push a lot. On one dune I jumped, a big jump, and I crashed because I hit another big one with the front wheel,” said Benavides.

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“I banged my head like this and broke the GPS and everything. I cut myself too and started to lose a lot of blood. There was also some pain around my ankle. In the end, I continued and kept pushing with a lot of pain, so, yeah, it was really hard for me today.

“My nose is broken and also I broke the helmet, it was really hard. I think Iā€™ll be okay for tomorrow. Iā€™m in pain, but it will be ok. I also tried to push on the last part to win some time, but it was hard and there was a lot of pain today. But itā€™s like that, this is the Dakar.”

Britain’s Sam Sunderland placed fifth on the stage with defending champion Ricky Brabec in 12th. Laia Sanz finished in 26th with David Knight 37th. Jamie McCanney has withdrawn.

Results Dakar 21 stage five

147
(ARG) KEVIN BENAVIDESMONSTER ENERGY HONDA TEAM 202105H 09′ 50”
24
(CHL) JOSE IGNACIO CORNEJO FLORIMOMONSTER ENERGY HONDA TEAM 202105H 10′ 50”+ 00H 01′ 00”
33
(AUS) TOBY PRICERED BULL KTM FACTORY TEAM05H 11′ 10”+ 00H 01′ 20”
415
(ESP) LORENZO SANTOLINOSHERCO FACTORY05H 12′ 19”+ 00H 02′ 29”
55
(GBR) SAM SUNDERLANDRED BULL KTM FACTORY TEAM05H 14′ 07”+ 00H 04′ 17”
612
(FRA) XAVIER DE SOULTRAITHT RALLY RAID HUSQVARNA RACING05H 17′ 45”+ 00H 07′ 55”
79
(USA) SKYLER HOWESBAS DAKAR KTM RACING TEAM05H 20′ 33”+ 00H 10′ 43”
852
(AUT) MATTHIAS WALKNERRED BULL KTM FACTORY TEAM05H 20′ 53”+ 00H 11′ 03”
918
(BWA) ROSS BRANCHMONSTER ENERGY YAMAHA RALLY TEAM05H 20′ 55”+ 00H 11′ 05”
102
(CHL) PABLO QUINTANILLAROCKSTAR ENERGY HUSQVARNA FACTORY RACING05H 22′ 05”+ 00H 12′ 15”
1111
(SVK) STEFAN SVITKOSLOVNAFT RALLY TEAM05H 23′ 29”+ 00H 13′ 39”
121
(USA) RICKY BRABECMONSTER ENERGY HONDA TEAM 202105H 24′ 02”+ 00H 14′ 12”
1377
(ARG) LUCIANO BENAVIDESROCKSTAR ENERGY HUSQVARNA FACTORY RACING05H 24′ 13”+ 00H 14′ 23”
1422
(POL) MACIEJ GIEMZAORLEN TEAM05H 25′ 40”+ 00H 15′ 50”
1521
(AUS) DANIEL SANDERSKTM FACTORY TEAM05H 25′ 51”+ 00H 16′ 01”
1674
(ESP) JAUME BETRIUFN SPEED – KTM TEAM05H 28′ 17”+ 00H 18′ 27”
1788
(ESP) JOAN BARREDA BORTMONSTER ENERGY HONDA TEAM 202105H 29′ 01”+ 00H 19′ 11”
186
(ARG) FRANCO CAIMIMONSTER ENERGY YAMAHA RALLY TEAM05H 34′ 24”+ 00H 24′ 34”
1931
(CZE) MARTIN MICHEKORION – MOTO RACING GROUP05H 37′ 03”+ 00H 27′ 13”
2024
(DEU) SEBASTIAN BƜHLERHERO MOTOSPORTS TEAM RALLY05H 40′ 14”+ 00H 30′ 24”
2132
(ESP) TOSHA SCHAREINAFN SPEED – KTM TEAM05H 41′ 32”+ 00H 31′ 42”
2227
(PRT) JOAQUIM RODRIGUESHERO MOTOSPORTS TEAM RALLY05H 41′ 41”+ 00H 31′ 51”
2342
(FRA) ADRIEN VAN BEVERENMONSTER ENERGY YAMAHA RALLY TEAM05H 44′ 21”+ 00H 34′ 31”
2454
(FRA) CAMILLE CHAPELIERETEAM BAINES RALLY05H 46′ 37”+ 00H 36′ 47”
2526
(CZE) MILAN ENGELORION – MOTO RACING GROUP05H 47′ 52”+ 00H 38′ 02”
2644
(ESP) LAIA SANZGAS GAS FACTORY TEAM05H 49′ 29”+ 00H 39′ 39”
2717
(ESP) JOAN PEDRERO GARCIAFN SPEED – RIEJU TEAM05H 51′ 11”+ 00H 41′ 21”
28142
(ITA) MAURIZIO GERINISOLARYS RACING05H 53′ 04”+ 00H 43′ 14”
2987
(ESP) ORIOL MENAFN SPEED – RIEJU TEAM05H 55′ 34”+ 00H 45′ 44”
3076
(CZE) ROMAN KREJCIBO!BETON TEAM05H 59′ 05”+ 00H 49′ 15”
3120
(POL) ADAM TOMICZEKORLEN TEAM05H 59′ 27”+ 00H 49′ 37”
3230
(LTU) ARUNAS GELAZNINKASZIGMAS DAKAR TEAM06H 01′ 51”+ 00H 52′ 01”
3329
(ROU) EMANUEL GYENESAUTONET MOTORCYCLE TEAM06H 05′ 37”+ 00H 55′ 47”
3419
(PRT) RUI GONCALVESSHERCO FACTORY06H 08′ 14”+ 00H 58′ 24”
3537
(CZE) DAVID PABISKAJANTAR TEAM06H 17′ 57”+ 01H 08′ 07”

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