Local biker, Ross Branch, faced a series of navigation problems to finish 11th on Stage Two of the Dakar Rally 2024 yesterday, but he remains in the lead on the overall charts.
The Kalahari Ferrari, as Branch is known, has enjoyed a strong start to this year’s edition of the race that started on January 5 and is due to end on January 19 in Saudi Arabia. Branch was third on the prologue stage and announced his intentions on Stage One on Saturday, as he bagged a morale-boosting win, his career fourth at the Dakar Rally.
Yesterday, the local biker led the pack but lost some time due to navigation problems as opponents closed in on him on the general standings. Branch says he lost ground early in today’s 655km long stretch as he struggled to get his navigation right just 50km in.
“The navigation was extremely was hard,” Branch told media after the race. “It was not too bad but we made a huge mistake just at kilometre 50 or 60, somewhere there and I lost a lot of time. “Then Ricky (Brabec) and I made another mistake and I lost a bit of more time.”
Branch will return to the saddle today for Stage Three of the race, the longest thus far in the competition this year with a distance of 733km. He will be hoping to sort out the navigation issues and stay on the bike to maintain his lead in the race.
Chilean, Jose Ignacio Cornejo Florimo and American biker, Brabec, are breathing down Branch’s neck in second and third respectively. The local biker has thus far stayed the longer at the top of the Dakar Rally than any African competitor in recent years.
Florimo claimed Stage Two of the race as Argentinian, Luciano Benavides and Chilean Pablo Quintanilla came in, in second and third place respectively. Branch is now just two minutes and 55 seconds ahead of Florimo in the overall standings.
