Kevin Benavides lived in the last Dakar the most exciting moment of his life when he was crowned champion of the motorcycle category. The Argentine ‘motard’ touched the sky with his hands, just five years after making his debut in the toughest rally-raid in the world. A success that served to do justice to its performance, since Benavides debuted in the Dakar 2016 with a fourth place, an edition in which he also achieved his first stage victory. Kevin was runner-up in 2018 and finished inside the ‘top 5’ in 2019. His most low-key performance came in 2020, although even then he achieved a stage victory.
Always hand in hand with Honda, Kevin Benavides decided to do a Tänak and change teams after proclaiming himself champion. If the Estonian went from Toyota to Hyundai in the WRC after taking the title in 2019, Benavides decided to change Honda for KTM for 2022. However, the first Dakar with the Austrian firm had a very bitter end for Benavides. Despite following an upward trend and holding serious options to successfully defend his title, Kevin Benavides has said goodbye to the Dakar after suffering an engine breakdown on his KTM on the tenth stage of the rally.
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At kilometer 133 of the tenth stage, Kevin Benavides’ KTM engine said enough and left the Argentine ‘motard’ without options to revalidate the title. A sudden and really painful break since Benavides was fifth in the general classification, 10 minutes and 22 seconds behind the leader before the start of the day and at the time of the breakdown he only lost 47 seconds with Joan Barreda, a result that at the end of the special It would have served him to get fourth in the general classification just over six minutes behind the head. Without remedy, Kevin Benavides would burst into tears in the middle of the desert.
Kevin Benavides tears reflect the dimension of the Dakar and from this disappointment, as his words also distil: «I was driving very well and then the engine exploded, something inside. I feel like shit, sorry for saying it like that, but it’s really too sad. You know, we squeeze every day, we try to get back to the front, to fight. I also wanted to defend my number 1, but it could not be and it is very painful. Now I can only thank everyone who has always supported me and been there. We will have to go back again, get up as usual. Never giving up».