Pablo Quintanilla and José Ignacio Cornejo gave their all in the motorcycle category and culminated in the Top 10 in the demanding 2023 edition of the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia
The maximum Chilean credits in the motorcycle category of the Dakar 2023, Pablo Quintanilla (Honda) and José Ignacio Cornejo (Honda)finished the demanding edition in Saudi Arabia within the top-10 in the general classification.
‘Quintafondo’ ended in the third place the fourteenth and final stagewhich included a 136-kilometre special between Al Hofuf and Dammam, with a time of 1hr18’32”.
With this, Quintanilla climbed from the fifth to the fourth place overallfinishing 19 minutes and 02 seconds behind the winner of the test, the Argentine Kevin Benavides (KTM).
“I pushed as hard as possible and I enjoyed it. I am happy, calm. They were two intense weeksvery complicated, difficult, exhausting, but I have the feeling that give my 100 percent every dayat all stages and that is gratifying,” he said.
“We know that the cancellation of Stage 7 hurt us, but it’s part of the race. The most important thing is to have arrived with the feeling of having given your 100 percent in every kilometer, in every stage, so I’m happy”, he added.
For his part, ‘Nacho’ Cornejo finished the last stage in the 34th square with a time of 1hr38’22”.
The man from Iquiqueño thus kept the eighth place in the overall tableremaining 51 minutes and 21 minutes behind Benavides, who claimed his second Dakar crown.
“Not happy with the final result, really, but happy to finish in a fairly tough edition”, Cornejo indicated on his official Instagram account.
“Apologies for not being able to achieve the goal, everyone on this project has worked very hard and the result leaves us with a bitter taste. But we will keep trying next year. Thanks to everyone who put up the stamina during the race days,” he added.