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Yamaha Inside Top Four As Dakar Rally Reaches Its Halfway Point | News

Following a well-calculated plan of attack, Adrien Van Beveren secured a top 10 stage result, to reach the Dakar Rally's halfway point second in the provisional overall standings.

Wrapping up a highly successful first week of racing in South America, the WR450F Rally powered rider is now one-minute and 57 seconds behind the provisional overall leader.

Adrien Van Beveren: “It was a very long day but we managed to reach the La Paz bivouac without any problem. It was raining for the most part of the day and in the liaison section it was really, really cold. The timed special was quite fast, without any technical difficulties. The goal was not to make any navigational mistakes and reach the finish with a good overall time. I am happy I made it happen and now we are here in the La Paz bivouac. So far everything is going well and I’m happy I got to the rest day in second overall. The gap to the leader is really small and with one more full week of racing, anything can happen.”

Enjoying yet another steady performance, Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team’s Rodney Faggotter remains inside the top 20 in the provisional overall standings. Reaching the La Paz bivouac without any issue, the Aussie is now 18th in the provisional overall.

Rod Faggotter: “It was a pretty long, wet and cold day today so it felt like a big relief to reach the La Paz bivouac without any issues. We got off to a very early start in the morning and rode all the way down to the Bolivian borders. I got through the day pretty all-right. To be honest it was hard to enjoy such a day, especially if you’re all wet and it’s hard to see. This is the Dakar and we know how to deal with such long days. I had no crashes today, my bike is in good shape so for me it all goes to plan so far.”

Dakar Rally 2018 – Stage 6 – Provisional Classification
1. Antoine Meo (FRA), KTM, 01:54:10
2. Kevin Benavides (ARG), Honda, 01:54:40, +00:30
3. Toby Price (AUS), KTM, 01:54:40, +00:30
4. Martin Duplessis (ARG), Honda, 01:55:23, +01:13
5. Dani Oliveras (ESP), KTM, 01:56:05, +01:55
6. Pablo Quintanilla (CHL), Husqvarna, 01:56:10, +02:00

9. Xavier de Soultrait (FRA), Yamaha, 01:57:22, +03:12
10. Adrien Van Beveren (FRA), Yamaha, 01:57:37, +03:27
21. Franco Caimi (ARG), Yamaha, 02:01:02, +06:52
27. Rodney Faggotter (AUS), Yamaha, 02:03:41, +09:31

Provisional Standings after Stage Six – 2018 Dakar Rally

1. Kevin Benavides (ARG), Honda, 16:33:20
2. Adrien van Beveren (FRA), Yamaha, 16:35:17 +1:57
3. Matthias Walkner (AUT), KTM, 16:36:10 +2:50
4. Joan Barreda Bort (SPA), Honda, 16:42:53 + 9:33
5. Toby Price (AUS), KTM, 16:42:59 +9:39

18. Rodney Faggotter (AUS), Yamaha, 17:38:05, +01:04:45
25. Alessandro Botturi (ITA), Yamaha, 18:02:04, +01:28:44
35. Franco Caimi (ARG), Yamaha, 19:31:03, +02:57:43