dyton mupawaenda
Collin Matiza-Sports Editor
IT’S mission accomplished!
What a performance and what emotions!
It was firmly written in the stars and it finally came to fruition yesterday when Zimbabwean motorbike rider Ashley Thixton realised his childhood dream of competing and lasting the distance at the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia.
It doesn’t get bigger than this: Ashley Thixton lasting the full distance at Dakar 2024.
All Thixton had to do yesterday was finish the stage and he did that successfully to become the second Zimbabwean motorbike rider to complete the full distance of the tough two-week Dakar Rally after Graeme Sharp, who achieved this feat in 2020.
And Thixton was overcome with emotions as he shed some tears of joy in his post-race interview at the finish line in the Saudi city of Yanbu yesterday.
He actually came 20th in the 12th and final stage yesterday for an overall position of 32 in the bikes section of the 2024 Dakar Rally.
“It’s very emotional for me. A lot went into this (the 2024 Dakar Rally finishers medal).
“Being here it’s a dream come true. It’s really is something that means a lot . . . It’s not easy to get but now I’ve got it.
“I had the privilege of doing it, the privilege of putting myself through it, having people following it with me. “I’ve got it solid (the Dakar medal) and no one can take it away from me. The final stage today was awesome, I couldn’t hold it back but I had to open up and had to slow down at the end,” Thixton said. And this is a monumental moment in the history of motorsport and sport in general in Zimbabwe.
This phenomenal achievement has seen Thixton becoming one of the Dakar immortals and moreover he is now a Zimbabwean motorsport legend.
He, in fact, is now a Zimbabwean sporting hero, who deserves a place among a number of male and female athletes who have raised the country’s flag with distinction since the attainment of Independence in April 1980.
Although yesterday’s achievement by Thixton is nowhere near swimming icon Kirsty Coventry’s achievements at the Olympic Games, this should definitely be rated among the greatest ones for the archives.
In motorsport, Thixton has joined the class of retired motor rally driver Jamie Whyte and his co-driver Phil Archenoul who won the African Championship back-to-back in 2009 and 2010. And there’s also Mano Zevgolis who has been a dominant force in the local drag racing, main circuit racing and 3-Hour Endurance Race events. Thixton has emulated his close friend Graeme Sharp who achieved this feat in 2020 when the Dakar Rally was moved to Saudi Arabia.
And Thixton is now in the good company of local motorsport heroes and legends after his memorable outing at this year’s Dakar Rally in the Saudi dunes. Yesterday, Thixton turned miles into smiles as he showed some nerves of steel, just like what he did during the whole course of the 12-stage Dakar Rally, to steer his Husqvarna 450R bike home in the 12th and final stage without any qualms.
The brave Zimbabwean biker punched the air with delight as he crossed the finish line where he was met by his equally excited father and mentor, Trevor, who was by his side throughout the whole journey of the 2024 Dakar Rally which began on January 5 in the Saudi city of AlUlah.
Read full story on www.herald.co.zw
Yesterday’s last special stage did not include any major difficulties, but still proved decisive. A 174-kilometre time trial around Yanbu is always a threat to whoever is in the lead.
The final special stage yesterday brought a double victory for the Red Bull KTM Factory Team – Argentinean Kevin Benavides showed the best time (third victory at the stages of Dakar 2024), Australian Toby Price finished second.
The Benavides brothers finished together in the Top 3 on the special stage for the third time.
The winner of Dakar 2024 was the American Ricky Brabec (Monster Energy Honda Team) – this is his second triumph in the race, repeating his success in 2020. The Honda factory team has won the third Dakar in the last five years – in 2020, 2021 and 2024.
Botswana’s Ross Branch of the Hero Motosports Team Rally finished second, the highest achievement of his career (his previous personal best was 13th position at his debut Dakar 2019).
The second position was also the highest achievement for the Indian brand Hero – this is the first podium in its history at Dakar.
Frenchman Adrien van Bevere’s third place (Monster Energy Honda Team) was his personal best at the Dakar – he previously finished fourth in 2017 and 2022.
Indian Harith Noah (Sherco TVS Rally Factory) became the winner in the Rally2 class and was almost five minutes ahead of last year’s winner, Frenchman Romain Dumontier on a Husqvarna.
Ross Branch deserves immense credit also for his ’24 Dakar. He has never been luckiest of riders at Dakar but surely one of the bravest and the ever-smiling Botswanan rider claims a very popular and deserved second place on the podium.
“I feel on top of the world,” says Branch. “It was a really long rally, probably one of the toughest ones I’ve ever done. Hats off to Ricky, he rode an outstanding race. It was really close up until a couple of days when he made a big push and got a gap on me. It was awesome.
“I’m so happy for the team, they deserve to be happy because they’ve put a lot of work in and for such a young team, it’s a great result.”
Stage 12 (moto)
1. Benavides K. (KTM)
2. Price (KTM) +1:00
3. Benavides L. (Husqvarna) +1:14 (pen. 1:00)
4. Van Beveren (Honda) +1:25
5. Quintanilla (Honda) +2:27
Final standing (moto)
1. Brabec (Honda)
2. Branch (Hero) +10:53
3. Van Beveren (Honda) +12:25
4. Benavides K. (KTM) +38:48
5. Price (KTM) +45:28
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