It was supposed to have a total distance of 308 km but instead the 11th stage of the Dakar, held all within Shubaytah, was shortened to 152 km. It was all the fault of poor visibility due to fog, which initially also forced organizers to postpone the start and then opt to cut the mileage.
Coming out on top was Tosha Schareina on a Honda. The Spaniard was thus able to keep his chances for the final victory open by taking advantage of the sixth quickest time for leader Daniel Sanders on a KTM. After a thrilling duel with Adrien Van Beveren, Luciano Benavides on KTM crossed the finish line in second place, leaving the Honda rider in third.
Fourth was the Honda of Ricky Brabec, followed by the Hero of José Cornejo Florimo in great form and able to precede the leader and Mathieu Dovèze on KTM, who turned out to be the best among Rally2 at the end of an intense head-to-head with teammate Toni Mulec, just 20" behind.
Ninth position for Stefan Svitko also on KTM, while Skyler Howes' Honda closed out the top 10. Worthy of note was the 17th place of Docherty, winner of stage 10, while to find the first Italian we have to go down to 43rd place with Tommaso Montanari on a Fantic.
Dakar stage 11 standings:
General ranking after stage 11 of the Dakar: