KTM desert Rider Ben Grabham has moved from 11th to ninth place overall after finishing sixth in Stage two of the Dakar Rally, taking place from San Luis to San Rafael, Argentina.
The competitive stage featured a super-fast opening before introducing riders to the sand and dunes for the first time. Brit Sam Sunderland took out the stage, ahead of Chilean Francesco Lopez Contardo and overall leader Joan Barreda Bort (Spain).
Grabham is positioned well coming into Stage three, which is the start of the first marathon stage, where Ben comments it is critical to ride within the bike to get through the next two days.
“We have no support crew for two days and only access to what we are carrying. We don’t even get to see the crew at night as they are camping in a location no-one knows so tomorrow it’ll be important to try and save the bike and tyres to last two days.”
Competitors will get their first taste of the mountains during Stage three, departing from San Rafael, climbing through the Pre-Andes, 4300-metres above sea level to finish in San Juan
2014 Dakar Rally – overall rankings after Stage 2:
1. J.Barreda Bort (ESP) HONDA 06:09:41
2. F.Lopez Contardo (CHL) KTM 06:11:44 00:02:03
3. S.Sunderland (GBR) HONDA 06:12:14 00:02:33
4. A.Duclos (FRA) SHERCO 06:15:28 00:05:47
5. M.Coma (ESP) KTM 06:16:41 00:07:00
6. R.Faria (PRT) KTM 06:16:59 00:07:18
7. P.Goncalves (PRT) HONDA 06:17:51 00:08:10
8. C.Despres (FRA) YAMAHA 06:18:04 00:08:23
9. B.Grabham (AUS) KTM 06:19:46 00:10:05
10. D.Casteu (FRA) KTM 06:20:40 00:10:59
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