By Callum Ludwig
Three Bridges rally rider Daniel Sanders has picked up his first win in the FIM World Rally-Raid Championships, claiming victory in the Sonora Rally in Mexico.
The race was the third round of the championships and a strong way to bounce back for Sanders, who had an interrupted Dakar Rally and opted out of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge.
Sanders said he got back into his groove and rhythm by training back home in Three Bridges.
“I flew out two weeks ago and to America for a week testing just before the race in Mexico, it was a five-day rally covering about 2500km starting in Hermosillo and finishing in San Luis [Río Colorado] near the border,” he said.
“It was pretty hot and hot and dusty, about 37 degrees the first couple of days and got up to 41 on the last day up near Arizona.”
The win takes Sanders up to fifth in the overall rankings, despite his tough start in the season.
Sanders said he felt really good all race.
“I started off with a good first day and then won the second, third and fourth days, it was pretty dominant and everything just worked well for me,” he said.
“A couple of times I got a little bit lost on the navigation side of things, but that’s normal with rally racing. You just try to minimise the mistakes and I had no big crashes so that’s always a bonus, so it was a pretty smooth rally for me and probably the first one without any big dramas.”
The Sonora Rally is similar to the Dakar, in the fact that riders use a roadbook to navigate the journey.
Sander said it was a relief to get a good result.
“I wanted to push until the finish line and get that last-stage victory, so that was awesome, it’s been a tough last year from the injury and finally coming back and winning my first round,” he said.
“It was a fully stacked field, no one was out with injury so it was good to beat all the top riders in the rally team and gives me good confidence going into the next round in Argentina in August.”
The Desafío Ruta 40 is the penultimate race in the championships and will kick off in La Rioja, Argentina on 26 August, with competitors racing until 1 September.
Sanders will be preparing by competing in the Tatts Finke and Hattah Desert Races in Australia over the coming months.
