Ktm

Nothing to lose

Like the vast majority, Kevin Benavides came to rally-raid from enduro, making the leap in 2015. Fourth on his first Dakar the following year, his last three appearances in Saudi Arabia have seen both highs and lows. More exactly, two lows and one high. In 2020, the Argentinean was riding at an exceptional pace, even winning a special, before a breakdown left him stranded for four hours in the dunes on stage 6. He was then penalised for an engine change, which relegated him to 19th place as Ricky Brabec took the win. This success for a Honda was a huge motivation for Kevin going into 2021. On the last stage he was fighting with Brabec and Sunderland, with victory going his way in the last kilometres. A second consecutive win for Honda, a first for the Argentinean. Then in April 2021, the title holder announced his move to KTM, making his debut for the brand on the Rallye du Maroc. This year’s Dakar turned out to be a repeat of 2020 with Kevin lying fifth on stage 10 when he came to a grinding halt. Thanks to new W2RC regulations he was able to restart and win the next day before finishing twelfth on the final day to arrive in Jeddah in a lowly 100th place.
A major blow for Kevin who found himself last in the provisional W2RC ranking after the first round. At the second round of the championship, the number 1 machine seemed to be back on track. Leading after two days of racing on the Abu Dhabi Challenge, Kevin started to lose ground on the third day when he crashed, before suffering, as in January, a mechanical problem. 12th at the end of the race, the winner of the 2021 Dakar was betrayed by his KTM for a second time. Before resetting his counter to zero in January 2023, for the next W2RC season, the Argentinean will be hoping to remind his rivals of his ability during the 3rd edition of the Andalucía Rally. The KTM official won the first edition in 2020, his only time on the race.