After a highly positive day at the Dakar Rally yesterday for the Monster Energy Yamaha Rally Team, stage eleven has proved to be a seriously tough test of both patience and stamina.

Entering the penultimate day of the event as the provisional overall leader, Adrien Van Beveren suffered a frustrating navigational issue early on, which cost the Frenchman considerable time. Recovering the best he could to eventually place 15th, he now lies fourth overall. Andrew Short delivered another strong ride to complete the stage as the eighth fastest rider and now forms part of a three-rider battle for sixth in the provisional classification. The American sits eighth overall with one stage to go.

Along with many riders who struggled to validate a waypoint early on stage eleven, Adrien Van Beveren lost close to ten minutes to the overall rally leaders just four kilometres into the timed special. But without losing his focus, the Frenchman soon returned to the main racing line and began to reel in the leading riders. Continuing his charge, the Yamaha WR450F Rally racer then opened the final 60 kilometres of the special, navigating with precision and completing the stage in fifteenth. The penultimate day of the Dakar Rally 2022 was a frustrating day for Van Beveren, who is now fourth in the overall provisional classification.

Advertisement

Posting his eighth top-ten stage result at the 2022 Dakar Rally, Andrew Short would complete the physically demanding stage eleven in eighth place. Should the American ride with the same form tomorrow that heā€™s demonstrated throughout week two, a sixth-place overall finish is a strong possibility for Andrew.

Delivering a strong 10th place finish in the Light Prototype class on stage eleven, Camelia Liparoti advances to an impressive sixth place overall in the provisional classification ā€“ her highest ranking in this yearā€™s Dakar. With just one, relatively short stage to go, the YXZ1000R Prototype driver aims to post another strong result tomorrow to secure her place in the final standings.

Adrien Van Beveren ā€“ Monster Energy Yamaha Rally Team

“It was a hard one today. Just four kilometres in I struggled to validate a waypoint and it easily cost me ten minutes. It was a frustrating start to the stage but then I really pushed hard, harder than at any time in the rally so far. I caught the leading group of riders with around 60 kilometres to go and then just kept pushing hard. The gap to the lead is big now, but I will fight to the end.”

Andrew Short ā€“ Monster Energy Yamaha Rally Team

“It was a really tough day, by far the toughest in terms of riding and the physical side of things. Plus, the navigation was pretty hard early on and after four kilometres there was a lot of riders stopped to figure things out. But after that I did a pretty good job of opening and minimising the damage. I rode with Adrien a lot today, which was pretty cool and now weā€™re really close to the finish. Getting across the finish line was the goal from the start and weā€™re close now, so itā€™s exciting that weā€™re almost there.”

Dakar Rally 2022

Stage 11 Provisional Classification

1. Kevin Benavides (KTM) 3:30:56

2. Sam Sunderland (GASGAS) 3:31:00 + 0:00:04

3. Joaquim Rodrigues (Hero) 3:33:22 + 0:02:26

4. Matthias Walkner (KTM) 3:35:50 + 0:04:54

5. Ricky Brabec (Honda) 3:36:18 + 0:05:22

6. Pablo Quintanilla (Honda) 3:38:36 + 0:07:40

ā€¦

8. Andrew Short (Yamaha) 3:46:42 + 0:15:46

15. Adrien Van Beveren (Yamaha) 3:52:29 + 0:21:33

Dakar Rally 2022

Overall Provisional Classification (after stage 11)

1. Sam Sunderland (GASGAS) 37:04:05

2. Pablo Quintanilla (Honda) 37:10:57 + 0:06:52

3. Matthias Walkner (KTM) 37:11:20 + 0:07:15

4. Adrien Van Beveren (Yamaha) 37:19:35 + 0:15:30

5. Joan Barreda (Honda) 37:31:59 + 0:27:54

6. Ricky Brabec (Honda) 37:41:29 + 0:37:24

ā€¦

8. Andrew Short (Yamaha) 37:47:45 + 0:43:40

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR