After the 2023 Dakar Rally’s official rest day, competitors were ready to get back into action for Stage Nine. As winner of Stage Eight, Ross Branch was first to start. It didn’t take long, however, for Mason Klein to catch up. At the 43-kilometer checkpoint, Toby Price set the fastest time, with a lead of 35 seconds over Adrien Van Beveren and 45 seconds over both Pablo Quintanilla and Kevin Benavides. However, as we know, anything can happen—and it probably will.
Remember, this isn’t just about setting fast times—it's also about navigation. After the 117-kilometer mark, a whole group of riders seemed to have lost their way. The group included Mason Klein, Pablo Quintanilla, Ross Branch, Adrien Van Beveren, Michael Docherty, and Daniel Sanders. (Question: If enough of the pack all goes the wrong way, can’t they just make their own stage? Yes, we know they can’t really do that; it’s a rhetorical question.)
