When destiny seemed written, he wrote one of the most surreal pages in the five decades of history of the Dakar Rally. The Argentine rider, born in Salta 30 years ago, managed to win the 8,000-kilometre test in the last meters and incredibly steal the wallet from Honda’s American Ricky Brabec to elevate KTM once again. Although he started the final 105 kilometers of the rally three minutes and 20 seconds behind the leader, he managed to cross the finish line two seconds ahead overall, the closest finish of all time.
At the finish line, no one believed it at first. The two pilots stood next to the marshals, and about ten minutes passed where not a soul moved. What the hell had happened? Nobody knew. The teams waited tensely on the shores of the Red Sea, in the XXL bivouac in Yanbu. And suddenly, Luciano threw himself on the ground and announced the inexplicable turnaround in the race. He had achieved what everyone thought impossible, but It’s the Dakar, a motto that always comes back in this race.
“It was almost impossible, but nothing is in this life. That 1% that we had happened, and I gave it my all, I went to the limit, to make it happen. I ate two corners at the end. But I felt that it was possible, I had that feeling inside. It is the best way to win, because I suffered until the last kilometer,” commented the winner, incredulous at the finish line. His entire team and his older brother, Kevin, 37 years old, were waiting for him there, the first South American winner of the race and one of the few who knew firsthand that this was possible.
“I don’t know what happened, but it happened. You have to believe until the last meter. His victory is pure determination, all faith, what my brother achieved is incredible, it seems impossible, but nothing is,” commented the double winner of the rally in 2021 and 2023, when he also achieved a dramatic turnaround by starting the day 12 seconds behind his teammate Toby Price and beating him by 43 seconds. Norberto Benavides, who hit a sprint who almost killed him at the finish line, was crying with his two children, who have undoubtedly left an indelible mark on the race. Win like Benavides. “I am very proud, they have made history again, and on top of that coming from where we come from,” said the father. “Two months ago and I remember how the doctors told him no, and he said yes,” he added.
Benavides took advantage of an inexplicable mistake by Brabec, who was already dreaming of his third Touareg when he missed a waypoint four kilometers from the finish line. He had to make a detour, enough to lose the minutes he had of margin and be stunned upon arrival. “This is very hard, difficult to swallow. I have no idea how we lost, it doesn’t make any sense,” he muttered before starting the motorcycle and fleeing towards the Honda tent. The entire Japanese team looked like something out of a funeral, normal given the circumstances.
The last stage was won by Edgar Canet, Benavides’ caravan companion, with a time of 49m03 seconds. The 20-year-old Catalan went crazy when he crossed the finish line of his second Dakar and realized that his brother inside the bivouac he had achieved the unthinkable. A colossal story. The Argentine was second at six seconds, while Brabec finished tenth at 3m28s after deducting 1m22s of bonuses for opening the track this Saturday. With three stage victories throughout the rally, which he ran with broken cruciates and a badly injured shoulder, Benavides made Dakar history in a big way.
He had never been on the podium before, and now he is immortalized as a living legend of the rally rally. The lesson is clear again: never say never in this race.
