Monster Energy Yamaha Rally Team’s Adrien Van Beveren has kicked off the second week of racing at the 2022 Dakar Rally in style by moving into the provisional overall lead after successfully completing a challenging stage seven. Continuing what has been an incredibly promising race for the Frenchman so far, his 10th place finish moves him to the top of the leaderboard with a healthy five-minute advantage over his nearest rival. Andrew Short was the team’s fastest rider through the 401-kilometre special, finishing eighth to move into 10th in the provisional standings. Ross Branch re-joined the race and posted the 12th fastest time.
Consistency, speed, and a focused approach throughout the Dakar Rally is certainly paying off for Adrien Van Beveren who now leads the 44th edition of the event. Delivering a masterclass in navigation today when many of his rivals struggled with some of the tricky notes found in the roadbook, Van Beveren delivered a strong result on stage seven to put himself on top of the provisional overall classification with five days of racing remaining.
As the 16th rider to enter stage seven, Andrew Short was focused on securing a strong finish, riding his way to an eventual eighth fastest time. After posting impressive results since day two of the event, the Yamaha WR450F Rally mounted rider has continued to work his way up the overall leaderboard day-by-day, and now lies 10th in the provisional standings.
Ross Branch returned to action today after crashing out on stage six. Able to re-join the race and gain vital Dakar experience, despite riding in pain he enjoyed the 401-kilometre stage despite its navigational challenges to place 12th.
Adrien Van Beveren – Monster Energy Yamaha Rally Team
“Today was a great day for me. There was some really tricky navigation and I didn’t make any big mistakes, which was good and where I felt I could push, I really pushed where it was possible to do so. It feels great to be leading after everything that has happened to me over recent years but I know all too well that the race is far from over. I’ll continue to focus on each day and keep fighting to the end.”
Andrew Short – Monster Energy Yamaha Rally Team
“It took a while to get going today after having a day off yesterday with the rest day, but I started getting back into the swing of it as the stage went on. There was a lot of tricky navigation today, especially with some valleys and canyons thrown in there as well as a lot of sand that had been washed into them. But overall, it’s great to tick another stage off and play a part in a positive day for the team with Adrien now leading and Ross back in the race as well.”
Ross Branch – Monster Energy Yamaha Rally Team
“It’s nice to be able to line-up again and gain some more experience at the Dakar. My leg is pretty painful but with the team we decided to give it a go today and I’m glad I did. It was a fun stage but pretty difficult with navigation and I made a couple of small mistakes out there. It’s great to be back racing and I hope my leg is a little less sore tomorrow.”
Dakar Rally 2022
Stage 7 Provisional Classification
- Jose Ignacio Cornejo (Honda) 3:28:46
- Kevin Benavides (KTM) 3:29:30 + 0:00:44
- Joan Barreda (Honda) 3:31:37 + 0:02:51
- Luciano Benavides (Husqvarna) 3:36:36 + 0:07:50
- Lorenzo Santolino (Sherco) 3:37:15 + 0:08:29
- Joaquim Rodrigues (Hero) 3:37:43 + 0:08:57
…
- Andrew Short (Yamaha) 3:39:01 + 0:10:15
- Adrien Van Beveren (Yamaha) 3:41:20 + 0:12:34
- Ross Branch (Yamaha) 3:41:50 + 0:13:04
Dakar Rally 2022
Overall Provisional Classification (after stage 7)
- Adrien Van Beveren (Yamaha) 23:45:02
- Matthias Walkner (KTM) 23:50:14 + 0:05:12
- Kevin Benavides (KTM) 23:50:25 + 0:05:23
- Sam Sunderland (GASGAS) 23:50:40 + 0:05:38
- Lorenzo Santolino (Sherco) 23:51:36 + 0:06:34
- Pablo Quintanilla (Honda) 23:53:17 + 0:08:15
…
- Andrew Short (Yamaha) 24:13:12 + 0:28:10