#Dakar2019

Remaining calm and focused, Andrew Short has climbed up to an impressive 5th place in the Dakar’s overall standings finishing the 2019 Dakar Rally raid behind winner Toby Price, runner up Matthias Walkner, Sam Sunderland and team-mate Pablo Quintanilla. The Chilean, who was second in the general standings before this last stage, has fallen after only 10 km of the special.

It was an endless, troublesome day for the Monster Energy Honda Team riders who suffered the harshness of the Dakar Rally, particularly for Ricky Brabec, who was forced to abandon the race while still holding top spot in the general standings. “It was a shame, but I will go away happy with the good pace that I have set in this Dakar.

Michael Metge took advantage on the favorites' hesitation to take any risk to claim his maiden Dakar stage win. The Sherco rider beat Daniel Nosiglia by two minutes. Pablo Quintanilla, Matthias Walkner and Toby Price monitored one another closely throughout stage 9, with a single second separating the three riders as they came across the finish line in this same order.

After today's 8th stage is Andrew Short the best overall ranking US American at the Dakar2019! Let that sink in - nobody had this actually super-nice former motocross and supercross racer on the radar for a top 5 rank trailing the leader by 39 minutes and who knows what comes the following 2 days.

Bad luck for Ricky Brabec! In a hugely dramatic turn of events, after only 56 km of the special, Ricky Brabec has broken his Honda’s engine. The leader of the general standings, who had been riding an exemplary race and could start to nurture serious hopes of becoming the first American to win the Dakar, looks very like having to exit the race prematurely!

Some footage from the first week of the 2019 Rally Raid in Peru that has not been published yet plus a personal summary by the editor regarding the surrounding of the 2019 Dakar.

Leaving behind the memories of one of the most chaotic stages yet, the rally moved forward into its second half with all the competitors making their way to an overnight bivouac at Camana, making a liaison of 177kms, after the half day of rest in Arequipa.

Honda Team video from the rest day of the 2019 Dakar Rally. The riders, however, after a well-deserved morning rest and massage session, are now preparing for the next stage while the mechanics have spent the morning checking over the bikes ready for this afternoon.

Dakar Rally 2019 leader Nasser Al-Attiyah extended his advantage over the chasing pack by topping the event's fourth stage, running from Arequipa to Tacna. X-raid Mini buggy driver Stephane Peterhansel, who ran first on the road after topping Wednesday's test, was marginally quicker than Al-Attiyah at the opening waypoint. Peterhansel, who lags nine minutes behind Al-Attiyah in the general classification, has taken over in second place from fellow X-raid driver Yazeed Al-Rajhi, who had a troubled run.

5th stage Tacna/Moquegua – Arequipa. According to the weather forecast there will be thick fog in the early morning, which will prevent the helicopters from carrying out their safety missions. As a result, the schedules for the stage have been modified as follows:

The epic landscape of the Dakar Rally as it snakes its way through the shifting landscape of South America. The race originally took place between Paris, France and Dakar, Senegal, but due to security concerns in the region, it moved to South America ten years ago. This years edition is held entirely within Peru!