2023 Dakar: Klein takes maiden stage win

Mason Klein has taken his maiden Dakar stage win on day two despite a time penalty.

The BAS KTM rider accomplished the best time at the finishing line of the day’s special but received a penalty for speeding.

He was eventually declared the winner by 1’09s over Sebastien Buhler with Skyler Howes in third.

“Today I felt really good apart from the speed penalty I got, again. But other than that, it was super nice,| said Klein.

” Most of the day I was just following the other guys and then at the last part they were making jokes about me leading out or not leading out and letting them all do the work. So, I said, fine, I’ll take my turn and I just left them and it was good.

“The terrain was super good. The navigation was nice. The roadbook was good. The thing is, with the speed, like the top speeds in the speed zones, it’s all so much for me. It’s so much for my brain. Sometimes I just blank. Like, I’ll be paying attention to the speed zone and it will say go, no turns, all you have to do is stay straight and follow this course. I have to almost stop, and I forget what I’m doing. I don’t know if it’s about experience. It’s pretty tough.”