Branch, Docherty star on two wheels as SA cars dominate on four

It was a red-letter day 10 for Southern African bikers and cars at Dakar 2023, as Botswana’s Ross Branch scored his second stage win in three days, while SA rider Mike Docherty moved into the rookie bike lead with third overall.

He joins compatriot Malle Moto rider Charan Moore in leading his class, while SA cars continue to dominate, leading three of the four car classes with four days left to race.

Comprising 95% dunes, Wednesday’s 114km stage from Haradh, which ventured deep into the bowels of the Empty Quarter to Shaybah, caused much intrigue.

Bikers were up at 4am to take on sub-8° temperatures and a 470km liaison section, which was a shorter stage than most care to remember on the Dakar, but was expected to be extreme.

However,  it turned out to be a short, sharp and relatively easy stage by Dakar standards, with the first bike home in just one hour and 44 minutes after the start. 

Sebastien Loeb and Fabian Lurquin continued in their relentless pursuit of a first Dakar Rally win for the nine-time World Rally champion.

However, Loeb’s mesmerising pace would hardly put a dent in the overall rankings. 

Barring a disaster in the last quarter, fourth-on-the-day Nasser al-Attiyah is well on his way to his fifth Dakar victory, and his third for the South African Toyota Gazoo Racing team alongside Mathieu Baumel in their Hilux DKR T1+.

The Qatari veteran followed Loeb, DTM ace Mattias Ekstrom, and second-overall  rookie sensation Lukas Moraes in another Hilux.

Saudi home hero Yazeed Al Rajhi was fifth on Wednesday ahead of rear-wheel drive winner Jakub Przygonski’s Mini, Henk Lategan’s Hilux and Mathieu Serradori’s SA-built 4x2 Century CR6-T.

Besides a little movement in the gaps, there was no change in the overall top 10.

Al-Attiyah leads Moraes by an hour and 20 minutes, with Loeb a further 16 minutes adrift in third.

Toyota trio  SA Gazoo Racing crew’s Henk Lategan, Giniel de Villiers and former Le Mans winner Romain Dumas follow from Martin Prokop and Viktor Chytk in a Ford Raptor.

Another all-South African crew, eighth-placed Brian Baragwanath and Leonard Cremer’s Century CR6-T, leads the rear-wheel drive T1.2 class.

Daniel Schröder and SA navigator Ryan Bland’s PS Laser Red-Lined VK50 leads the amateur T1.1 class with teammates Tom Bell and SA’s Gerhard Schutte third.

This leaves South African-made race cars leading three of Dakar 2023’s four-car classes.

Botswana’s Branch on his Factory Hero and South African Docherty’s R2 amateur class FK Husqvarna were in the mix from the get-go on Wednesday.

Docherty initially led Factory Honda duo Adrien van Beveren and Pablo Quintanilla, who were closely trailed by Kevin Benavides’ KTM and Branch.

Branch made steady progress to move ahead of Van Beveren, Docherty,  Benavides and Matthias Walkner’s KTM to win.

Thursday’s varied 274km stage deep into the Empty Quarter is the first half of this year’s marathon stage.

Crews are not allowed service assistance and will be in isolation overnight in a camp in the desert. — Motorsport Media