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Ross Branch remains second in Dakar Rally premier class, Noah shines in Rally 2

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Ross Branch Hero MotoSports Dakar Rally

Al-Ula (Saudi Arabia): Hero MotoSports rider Ross Branch finished seventh in the 10th stage to maintain his second position in the overall rankings at the iconic Dakar Rally here. With the effort on Wednesday, Branch remains in podium contention but his gap from current race leader Ricky Brabec (Monster Energy Honda Team) has widened to over 10 minutes .

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In the 'Rally 2' category, India's Harith Noah once again achieved the top position and became the 'Stage' winner for the second time in three days. He also reached the second position in the overall Rally 2 rankings.

Branch has been holding on to second position in overall rankings for the last eight consecutive days.

Honda's Brabec finished the stage in 3 hours 51 minutes and 39 seconds. His teammate Ignacio Cornejo and Andrien Van Beveren took 2 and 20 seconds, respectively, more than him. Branch was 3 minutes and 45 seconds behind Brabec.

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In overall rankings, Beveren is just 52 seconds behind Branch.

As the rally entered its final leg, the fight for the podium became extremely intense among the top competitors. Set amidst the monumental rocks of the centuries-old Al-Ula, Stage 10 was considered to be a long, yet easy Stage to tackle.

The start of the Stage had a lot of fast tracks and it soon started puzzling the competitors with tough navigational challenges. The 371 km special was mostly sandy tracks and off-piste, lined with tough rocky sections.

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Branch started the day in fifth position and was able to take the lead in the early kilometers of the Stage. A slight navigational mistake towards the latter part of the day cost the Botswana rider some dear time.

The ‘Kalahari Ferrari’ is confident of delivering his best performance in the 11 the Stage of Dakar 2024.

"It was a really nice stage, I had a lot of fun on the bike, and the terrain suited me well too.Unfortunately, the navigation was a bit tricky, and I made a small mistake that cost me a bit of time," said Branch.

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"We look forward to the last two days, it's not the end of the race yet. I am going to push on till the last kilometer. We will continue the fight to fly our flag high.” Indian rider Harith Noah continued his brilliant performance in the ‘Rally 2’ category. The Sherco TVS Factory Team rider completed the 10th stage in three hours 53 minutes and 34 seconds. Noah on Monday became the first Indian ever to win a stage of any category in Dakar Rally.

Harith hopes to continue his form for two more stages.

"Two more stages for me, tommorow is another day. Will try to navigate and stay focused. I am satisfied with overall performance. I learnt a lot this year. I know on what areas I have to work on," he told PTI.

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The Dakar caravan will head towards its final destination in Stage 11. Stretching for a long 420 kms in Special, and another 107 kms in liaison, the route from Al-Ula to Yanbu features mostly fast pistes, rocky and stony rugged terrains set amidst mighty canyons.

This final long Stage has the potential to shake up the Dakar 2024 podium positions, and is likely to be tough on the tires.

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