Dakar Rally

Fifth stage win! Daniel Sanders extends his lead

Daniel Sanders extended his lead.

(Bild: AFP/APA/Valery HACHE)

KTM rider Daniel Sanders struck back on the seventh stage of the Dakar Rally and extended his lead in the motorcycle classification. The Australian took his fifth stage win on the 708 km (411 km timed) around Al-Duwadimi and is already more than 15 minutes ahead of Honda rival Tosha Schareina from Spain.

Sanders has never finished better than fourth in the Dakar so far. He still has five stages to go before a possible overall victory in Saudi Arabia.

For KTM, it would be an important prestige success in the face of an uncertain economic future after last year's triumph for Honda by the US American Ricky Brabec. "I feel confident and as a team we will do everything we can to put ourselves in the best possible position to retain the lead in the remaining stages," promised Sanders. The last time his compatriot Toby Price took five motorcycle stage wins (including the prologue) at a Dakar was in 2016.

Ebster twelfth on the day
Navigation was key on the loop around the Al-Duwadimi bivouac, which was initially affected by rain. Sander's KTM youngster Edgar Canet came closest. The 19-year-old Spaniard extended his lead over Tyrolean Tobias Ebster in the Rally2 classification to more than 21 minutes. Ebster crossed the finish line in twelfth place on the day; in the overall standings, the 27-year-old on his private KTM is still only one position behind Canet in eleventh place.

Close race in the cars
In the cars, local hero Yazeed Al-Rajhi came within 21 seconds of his leading Toyota brand colleague Henk Lategan. An error in the road book led to numerous top drivers losing their bearings. The organizers were forced to cancel all time differences on a 20-kilometre section. Brazilian Lucas Moraes in a Toyota took the day's victory ahead of Mattias Ekström from Sweden, who was third overall in a Ford.