on stage 8 . The same old trick once again allowed him to approach the remaining stages with caution and hatch a plan for stage 10 . Sunderland and Walkner held back so that they could chase the new leader , Van Beveren , clad in Yamaha blue , in the following special . Quintanilla also pounced on the opportunity to finish second , matching his 2020 performance .
Young brands such as Sherco and Hero also had their moment in the sun . Ensconced in the top 5 for the entire first week , Lorenzo Santolino and his Sherco expected to feature in the fight for glory before the tables turned . Hero and Joaquim Rodrigues bagged their maiden win in stage 3 , with a special thought for Paolo Gonçalves , Speedy tragically lost his life on the first Saudi iteration of Dakar . Red once again fluttered in the breeze of the aptly named sea , but it was no longer Honda ' s .
In the Rally2 category for non-professional riders , 20-year-old Mason Klein from the United States of America was a cut above the rest , finishing ahead of Camille Chapelière and picking up a stage podium along the way . The American was classified 9th overall , ahead of many much more fancied riders .
Chapelière , 19th overall , came in three places higher than in his debut , while Romain Dumontier , in twentysecond place overall , rounded out the Rally2 podium .
In the Original by Motul category for riders without
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