Monster Honda’s Jose Cornejo opened an 11 and a half minute lead over the Dakar pack on stage nine after closest rival Toby Price crashed out (click here).

Cornejo’s team now occupy the top three spots on the overall ranking with Kevin Benavides in second and Joan Barreda in third, 29 minutes down. The closest non-Honda rider is Red Bull KTM’s Sam Sunderland in fourth, a minute adrift of Barreda.

“Today was tough, it was always going to be a long day and it was. Toby started right behind me. We were fighting for the overall victory and it’s very bad that he crashed and got injured,” said Cornejo.

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“I hope it’s nothing serious. That’s the last news we want to hear, that one of us has crashed or is out of the race. Toby’s a legend, he’s a very good rider and also a very nice guy, so I wish him a fast recovery. Hopefully he’ll be right back on the bike soon. Today I had to open the whole way. It was tough.

“They let me know at the first refuelling point that Toby had crashed and I lost focus a little bit and made a few mistakes, but other than that I did a good job. All day pushing by myself was mentally exhausting. It needed a lot of self-motivation and self-conversation to keep going.

“We’ll see how the guys behind me have done. Hopefully they haven’t caught too many minutes on me and hopefully I’ll increase the overall lead a little bit, but we’ll see. Everyone is starting to push, to play their last cards, to try to advance or to get overall victory.

“Everyone wants it, you know, so I understand them. When you push to the limit, sometimes you make mistakes and this discipline is just like that. You have to be careful and try to control the danger as much as you can, but sometimes too many things happen: rocks, you’re navigating, going fast… it’s tough to finish without any crashes.”

2021 Dakar overall results after stage nine

14
(CHL) JOSE IGNACIO CORNEJO FLORIMOMONSTER ENERGY HONDA TEAM 202136H 51′ 00”

247
(ARG) KEVIN BENAVIDESMONSTER ENERGY HONDA TEAM 202137H 02′ 24”+ 00H 11′ 24”00H 02′ 00”
35
(GBR) SAM SUNDERLANDRED BULL KTM FACTORY TEAM37H 05′ 34”+ 00H 14′ 34”
41
(USA) RICKY BRABECMONSTER ENERGY HONDA TEAM 202137H 08′ 26”+ 00H 17′ 26”
588
(ESP) JOAN BARREDA BORTMONSTER ENERGY HONDA TEAM 202137H 20′ 00”+ 00H 29′ 00”
621
(AUS) DANIEL SANDERSKTM FACTORY TEAM37H 29′ 23”+ 00H 38′ 23”00H 07′ 00”
79
(USA) SKYLER HOWESBAS DAKAR KTM RACING TEAM37H 31′ 25”+ 00H 40′ 25”00H 06′ 00”
815
(ESP) LORENZO SANTOLINOSHERCO FACTORY37H 33′ 08”+ 00H 42′ 08”
92
(CHL) PABLO QUINTANILLAROCKSTAR ENERGY HUSQVARNA FACTORY RACING37H 51′ 37”+ 01H 00′ 37”
1042
(FRA) ADRIEN VAN BEVERENMONSTER ENERGY YAMAHA RALLY TEAM37H 53′ 48”+ 01H 02′ 48”
1111
(SVK) STEFAN SVITKOSLOVNAFT RALLY TEAM38H 05′ 07”+ 01H 14′ 07”
1227
(PRT) JOAQUIM RODRIGUESHERO MOTOSPORTS TEAM RALLY38H 39′ 03”+ 01H 48′ 03”00H 02′ 00”
1331
(CZE) MARTIN MICHEKORION – MOTO RACING GROUP38H 41′ 59”+ 01H 50′ 59”00H 03′ 00”
1474
(ESP) JAUME BETRIUFN SPEED – KTM TEAM39H 23′ 56”+ 02H 32′ 56”00H 06′ 00”
1552
(AUT) MATTHIAS WALKNERRED BULL KTM FACTORY TEAM39H 27′ 56”+ 02H 36′ 56”00H 02′ 00”
1624
(DEU) SEBASTIAN BÜHLERHERO MOTOSPORTS TEAM RALLY39H 54′ 12”+ 03H 03′ 12”00H 17′ 00”
1732
(ESP) TOSHA SCHAREINAFN SPEED – KTM TEAM39H 59′ 03”+ 03H 08′ 03”
1817
(ESP) JOAN PEDRERO GARCIAFN SPEED – RIEJU TEAM40H 15′ 14”+ 03H 24′ 14”
1987
(ESP) ORIOL MENAFN SPEED – RIEJU TEAM40H 43′ 05”+ 03H 52′ 05”
2044
(ESP) LAIA SANZGAS GAS FACTORY TEAM41H 26′ 47”+ 04H 35′ 47”00H 10′ 00”
2126
(CZE) MILAN ENGELORION – MOTO RACING GROUP41H 46′ 53”+ 04H 55′ 53”00H 01′ 00”
2219
(PRT) RUI GONCALVESSHERCO FACTORY42H 36′ 14”+ 05H 45′ 14”00H 15′ 00”
2330
(LTU) ARUNAS GELAZNINKASZIGMAS DAKAR TEAM42H 43′ 52”+ 05H 52′ 52”
2454
(FRA) CAMILLE CHAPELIERETEAM BAINES RALLY43H 01′ 44”+ 06H 10′ 44”01H 01′ 00”
2533
(IND) HARITH NOAH KOITHA VEETTILSHERCO FACTORY43H 22′ 43”+ 06H 31′ 43”00H 02′ 00”
2629
(ROU) EMANUEL GYENESAUTONET MOTORCYCLE TEAM43H 27′ 25”+ 06H 36′ 25”00H 02′ 00”
27101
(GBR) DAVID KNIGHTHT RALLY RAID HUSQVARNA RACING43H 44′ 12”+ 06H 53′ 12”00H 24′ 00”
2839
(FRA) BENJAMIN MELOTBENJAMIN MELOT43H 50′ 51”+ 06H 59′ 51”00H 01′ 00”
2925
(NLD) PAUL SPIERINGSHT RALLY RAID HUSQVARNA RACING44H 39′ 09”+ 07H 48′ 09”
3080
(AUS) MICHAEL BURGESSBAS DAKAR KTM RACING TEAM44H 58′ 55”+ 08H 07′ 55”00H 39′ 00”
3163
(POL) KONRAD DABROWSKIDUUST RALLY TEAM45H 21′ 08”+ 08H 30′ 08”
3237
(CZE) DAVID PABISKAJANTAR TEAM45H 32′ 07”+ 08H 41′ 07”00H 01′ 00”
3395
(FRA) XAVIER FLICKXTREM RACING45H 57′ 54”+ 09H 06′ 54”
3448
(FRA) MATHIEU DOVEZENOMADE RACING ASSISTANCE46H 11′ 14”+ 09H 20′ 14”00H 05′ 00”
3553
(CZE) LIBOR PODMOLPODMOL DAKAR TEAM46H 14′ 10”+ 09H 23′ 10”00H 15′ 00”
3641
(CHN) ZAKER YAKPWU PU DA HAI DAO DAKAR RALLY TEAM46H 58′ 07”+ 10H 07′ 07”00H 41′ 00”
37108
(ESP) MARC CALMETFN SPEED – RIEJU TEAM49H 32′ 28”+ 12H 41′ 28”00H 02′ 00”
3884
(GBR) NEIL HAWKERNEIL HAWKER51H 22′ 52”+ 14H 31′ 52”00H 02′ 00”
3981
(SVK) ERIK VLCAKSLOVNAFT RALLY TEAM52H 54′ 13”+ 16H 03′ 13”00H 26′ 00”

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