The defending champion, aboard his 7240 Team Yamaha YFM 700 R, clocked 5:12:20 to cover the 465 kilometers of special set between Al Qaisumah and Riyadh, capital of Saudi Arabia.
The Buenosairean arrived with a difference of +1: 52 compared to the Russian Aleksandr Maksimov (Yamaha), number 1 of a podium that was completed with the French Alexandre Giroud (Yamaha Racing SMX Drag’on).
The positions of the fourth stage did not alter the order of the general classification in the category: Copetti (Yamaha Rally Team), 46, who runs his tenth Dakar under the American flag, leads with a cumulative 19:25:41.
Giroud is second (+14: 20), Maksimov third at 24:55 and Andújar occupies the fourth step (+29: 08), after two partial victories (stage 1A and 2), a tenth, a third and a second place as a result of the partials.
On motorcycles, the Argentine Kevin Benavides (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) had his worst day after qualifying 16th. at 17:42 of the Spanish Joan Barreda (Monster Energy Honda), who won his second stage of this 44th. edition of the most extreme rally on the planet.
The Valencian rider arrived escorted by his teammate, Chilean Pablo Quintanilla (+4: 37) and Italian Danilo Petrucci (Tech 3 KTM, +6: 53).
The salteño Benavides fell from eighth to tenth place in the Dakar global table, with a distance of 25:12 compared to the British Sam Sunderland (Gas Gas Factory Racing), seventh this Wednesday in the fourth quarter.
It was not the expected performance that of the champion, Kevin Benavides: “It was quite a tough stage, very long, and at the beginning we failed a bit, it was very cold in the morning and I couldn’t handle the cold I had in my hands”, admitted the KTM rider
“Later I started to feel better, I started to loosen up and I was able to push, and I had a little navigation error because it was quite difficult, but in general it was a good day, maybe not in results, but my feelings were positive”Kevin expressed.
Luciano Benavides placeholder image (Husqvarna), Kevin’s younger brother, had his most positive day in the competition, entering sixth (+9: 55) above the category leader, and ranking 20th overall. step.
“It was about time,” Luciano Benavides said at the end of the stage, “because I started from lowest to highest, the first day I finished 40 due to that error in the roadbook and we had to eat it the same, and in the second stage we improved, but not that much” .
Regarding his good performance today, Benavides highlighted that “we made progress again, today I felt good and had a good navigation, focused on the roadmap. I worked with great consistency throughout the stage, very comfortable, and I managed a good performance” .
Another Argentine who suffered a setback was the Mendoza Lucio Álvarez (Overdrive Toyota) in cars, going from third to fifth place in the accumulated classification after entering tenth in the fourth stage to +12: 06 of the local Yazeed Al Rajhi (Overdrive Toyota) .
One place up, in ninth, came his native Orlando Terranova (Provide), eighth in a division dominated by Qatari Nasser Al-Attiyah (Toyota Gazoo Racing), today second ahead of Frenchman Sebastien Loeb (Prodrive).
Lithuanian Benediktas Vanagas was speeding through the desert in his Toyota Hilux T1 + when he encountered a mound of sand, causing the truck’s suspensions to butt out and ejecting the unit forward in a spin.
The machine lurched six times on its way and fell on all four wheels. Fortunately, the cabin was undamaged, leaving Vanagas and his navigator Filipe Palmeiro unharmed from the incident.
The fifth set this Thursday, starting and finishing in Riyadh, will be the third to be played in the form of a loop. The circuit will consist of 346 computed kilometers and 214 connecting kilometers.
The Dakar 2022 will run until Friday, January 14, divided into 12 stages, with a total route of 8,000 kilometers (4,300 timed).
This edition launches the first phase of the “Dakar Future” program, which aims to achieve 100% low-carbon vehicles by 2030.
In this energy transition, the novelties of this year are the implementation of hybrid engines in cars and trucks and the installation of a camp with the use of renewable energies.
Source From: Ambito
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