Daniel Sanders leads Dakar Rally Moto category ahead of final stage
Australian rider Daniel Sanders is on the verge of winning the Dakar Rally.
In the Moto category, the KTM team rider finished 6th in the penultimate stage of the famous rally, held in Saudi Arabia.
Because of dense fog, there was a risk of many motorcyclists being caught in the dunes after nightfall. Therefore, the distance of the 11th stage was reduced. Sanders successfully completed the 152-kilometer route in 2 hours, 19 minutes, and 35 seconds. However, the Australian was 7 minutes and 31 seconds slower than Spain’s Tosha Schareina of Honda, who won the stage.
Heading into the final stage, Sanders leads the overall standings with a comfortable 9-minute margin over Schareina.
In the Auto category, Swedish driver Mattias Ekström, representing Ford, claimed victory with a time of 4 hours, 19 minutes, and 27 seconds. Qatar’s Nasser Al-Attiyah, driving for Dacia, finished second, while Saudi Arabia’s Yazeed Al-Rajhi, racing for Overdrive, secured third place.
In the overall standings, with one stage remaining, Al-Rajhi leads South Africa’s Henk Lategan of Toyota by 6 minutes and 11 seconds.
In the Trucks category, Czech driver Martin Macik of MM Technology triumphed once again. His main rival for the title, Dutchman Mitchel van den Brink, finished only in 4th place.
As a result, like motorcyclist Daniel Sanders, Czech driver Martin Macik is also poised to win the Dakar Rally’s Trucks category. Heading into the final stage, Macik has a commanding two-hour and 25-minute lead over Van Den Brink.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
