Riyadh, Jan 14 (IANS): Honda's Kevin Benavides moved into the lead after his team mate and overnight leader Jose Cornejo retired from a crash in Stage 10 of the 2021 Dakar Rally on Wednesday. Cornejo, who had a substantial 11-minute lead heading into the 342km stage between Neom and Alula, crashed 252km into the stage.

Although he made it to the finish, it was later announced that Cornejo has been forced to retire due to risk of concussion.

Honda's Ricky Brabec led Benavides by almost five minutes as the hilly part of the stage began. He maintained his lead from then on and won the stage while Benavides's third place finish helped him take the lead in the overall standings.

Hero MotoSports Team Rally, meanwhile, continued to impress. Joaquim Rodrigues set the pace from the start and finished 10th while team mate Sebastian Buhler struggled to recover from a navigation mistake and finished 21st. Rodrigues in is 11th in the overall standings while Buhler is after 10 stages.

Stage 11, the penultimate stage of the rally, will offer the longest special with 511 kms to be done under the clock, taking the rally to the Yanbu region in Saudi Arabia.