Luciano Benavides’ victory in the fifth stage of the 2025 Dakar Rally is not just any victory. It could be said that it is not the first victory of the brothers from Salta (Argentina) in this edition of the test. They already felt like winners when they appeared together in Saudi Arabia, dressed in the official KTM orange as teammates. Especially Kevin. The two-time rally-raid champion par excellence arrived physically fit at the annual event in January, still in full recovery from the aftermath of a serious motocross accident that almost cost him his life. “It was a very strong blow, I was close to death and my life changed completely. “It has been very hard for me and the whole family,” says the 36-year-old pilot, winner of the 2021 and 2023 editions, in conversation with Morning Express.
On May 11, 2024, an accident while practicing motocross on a circuit near home caused a diffuse axonal injury to his head that left him in a coma for several days, bedridden for weeks. “I found him lying there, on the floor, unconscious, breathing very badly. We didn’t know what was happening and I suffered a lot, we had a very bad time,” recalls Luciano, 29 years old. That day they didn’t even plan to go to training, but they got excited at the last minute and their entire universe fell apart in the blink of an eye. Nobody knows what exactly happened, only the consequences “It has been like starting over, I have had to learn everything again and accept that these injuries require recovery time that you cannot avoid,” Kevin reflects on the day of his anniversary, where He receives a visit from his father and the dedication from his brother, who won the special by exactly 47 seconds, the champion’s number bruised. The South American journalists, at the finish line, sang happy birthday to him as soon as they arrived in Hail, a city located in the north of the country.
Accustomed to breaking bones, the blow to the head was accompanied by the cutting of the radial nerve. They had to intubate him at first, and when he woke up he realized that he had lost feeling in his left arm: “When I woke up I had no idea what had happened, I only saw the worried faces of my family.” The doctors had to make an invention, moving the tendons around to try to regain mobility in the limb. “Neurorehabilitation is a hard process, it is like learning to move your hand and arm again from scratch,” he states. He had to undergo surgery several times, the last on July 20. In the hospital he met his little brother, who broke his hip that same month while participating in the Ruta 40 Challenge, also in Argentina. Kevin was in room 612 and Luciano in 614: “He had just won the Dakar in 2023 and I had won the World Cup, we went from heaven to hell from one year to the next.”
The eldest Benavides was not able to get back on the motorcycle until September 24. He was able to ride a little in the United States and shortly before the Dakar in Chile. Very fair to reach Arabian lands in conditions. The consequences of his injuries were still very present three months after the accident. Reduced reaction capacity, difficulty articulating or finding certain words and dizziness depending on movements. It took a long time to feel more or less fine. “I am very grateful to be able to be here today, to still be alive. Although I am not at 100%, I have come here to compete for myself, to show myself that with work you can do anything. Arriving has been quite a victory, as well as staying in the race in such a tough edition for all the drivers. “I roll with one and a half arms, so to speak, and we are here fighting every day,” he summarizes after a first week of hard work. 26th overall, more than three hours behind the leader, his race is with himself and nothing else. In the bivouac, everyone celebrates being able to see him doing what he likes most again.
Almost all. After the accident, Norberto, their father, told the brothers that enough is enough. “I am happy in life with their achievements, but the day they tell me that they no longer run, I will be happier. The truth is that I’m scared to death,” the father confessed to Clarion a few years ago, even before the big scare. Both kids inherited their passion for motorcycles, and deep down I knew that I was asking something impossible of them. “After a few days he realized that we were not going to stop, our life revolves around all this and although he suffers, he has always supported us,” thanks Luciano, seventh overall, 24 minutes behind leader Daniel Sanders, another from his teammates at KTM.
The pressing crisis of the Austrian brand, which has accumulated more than 600 layoffs in less than a year, has paralyzed production until March and has entered bankruptcy, has not affected the performance of its riders in the Dakar for now. . We are talking about the most iconic factory of the event, with 240 stage victories and 19 trophies Touareg to his credit. Both fully trust the management of the sports branch, which for now has assured to participate not only in this event, but in all the stops of the World Rally Raid Championship in 2025. In the caravan it is an open secret that ASO, the promoter French test company, has done its part to save one of the world’s flagships from the off-road.
For the Benavides, owners of a brand dealership in their hometown, wearing the same colors is a dream that just started a decade ago. “In 2014 we visited several dealerships and the factory in Austria. We fell in love seeing all those trophies and the legendary names they have made as factory drivers. That day we talked about how nice it would be to achieve it together,” Luciano recalls. “Two Argentine brothers, from Salta, in the best team in the world. For one to arrive seemed almost impossible, imagine both,” Kevin celebrates after overcoming the most difficult year of his life.
Schareina approaches the leader
The fifth and last stage before the expected rest day of a tough edition like few others left good news for the main Spanish candidate for victory. Tosha Schareina, official Honda rider, spent several minutes at the finish line compared to Daniel Sanders (KTM), but saw how three penalties for exceeding the speed limits harmed the Dakar leader. All in all, the 29-year-old Valencian came within seven minutes of the overall standings, where he is second with a margin of 10 minutes over the third, Hero’s Botswana Ross Branch. Digital tablets continued to bother several of the protagonists, including the Australian who commands the classification. Edgar Canet (KTM), only 19 years old, continues to impress in his Dakar debut and is tenth in the table, first in the Rally2 category.
In cars, penalties also played an important factor in the 428 kilometer special between Al-Ula and Hail. Nasser Al-Attiyah (Dacia) pushed his prototype as hard as possible and crossed the finish line in first position, but the marshals took ten minutes off the timer for arriving without one of his two spare wheels mounted in place. For a second, Seth Quintero’s Toyota took the partial victory, and the setback frustrated the magnificent comeback operation drawn up by the Qatari, winner of five Touaregs. South African Henk Lategan leads the rally at the end of the first week with ten minutes ahead of Saudi Yazeed Al Rajhi, another of his teammates in the Japanese brand. Mattias Ekstrom’s Ford is in third place, 20 minutes behind the leader, with Al-Attiyah 35 minutes away, which seems little given the toughness of the sixth edition on Arabian lands.
After the setbacks of Laia Sanz, Cristina Gutiérrez, Carlos Sainz and Nani Roma, who suffered a serious accident without injuries this Thursday, the best Spanish classified in cars is chef Nandu Jubany, 29th, more than four hours behind the leader with his MD Two-wheel drive Optimus.
