Daniel Sanders has picked up another stage win to extend his overall lead to 13 minutes and 26 seconds in the 2025 Dakar Rally.
Two minutes and 33 seconds behind Tosha Schareina at kilometre 383 of the 415km stage, Daniel Sanders surged to claim the stage as the Australian finished with 15 seconds in hand over the Spaniard, who is also second overall.
Interviewed after the stage, Sanders said he got lost a fair bit before that and then I was catching back up to Nacho and Tosha and then got into the dust there.
“I don’t know, it was alright for me. I just tried to follow the lines and just check the road book and make sure everything’s good. But I know this area and it can be tricky so you just gotta focus and be good with it all. A little bit of cat and mouse at the end, trying to slow down, Tosha was leading and he stopped for two minutes so then I opened the mirror,” he said.
“I knew it was a good chance to extend the overall lead after I lost so much time yesterday, which was out of my control. So yeah, it was important to get that lead back. And then now tomorrow, the pressure’s back on to try and not lose too much and open really well. But this area is definitely going to be hard, and the navigation’s tricky,”
“I just focused on myself and I did the same in Morocco and the guys made mistakes behind so it’s good when you can just focus on what you’re doing and not looking at other lines and making sure because you’re 100 per cent focused on the road book and then I’m sure they’ll be following the lines a little bit but hopefully no mistakes and no big ones.”
In Stage Five, Sanders will lead out the pack of racers in a 428km special. Riders only have an jour and half the night before to make any adjustments to their bikes.
