Three Bridges’ Daniel ‘Chucky’ Sanders is back on the bike for the Rallye du Maroc, the final event of the 2024 FIA World Rally-Raid Championship held in Morocco.
Sanders has stormed out to a commanding lead in the 2365-kilometre race after Stage Four.
On his competitive return, Sanders finished Stage One in second, 48 seconds behind the race leader Ross Branch.
Sanders clocked in second at the first checkpoint of stage one at kilometre 42 before taking the lead on time for the next 100 kilometres and then began to make excellent time across the sand dunes before an error cost him close to two minutes and let him second overall.
“Day one at Morocco is done! It was good to get the prologue out of the way yesterday – that helped us settle back in to racing and gave me a good start position for today,” Sanders said.
“Stage one started with a load of riverbeds and stony terrain, so it was a really good test of the bike and the improvements we’ve made over the last few months. I made a couple of mistakes early on, but then quite a big one at around kilometre 140, which cost me a couple of minutes, unfortunately,”
“It’s frustrating as it spoiled all the hard work I had put in leading up to that point, really. Other than that, I felt good, and the speed is definitely there – we’ll see how we get on tomorrow.”
On Stage Two, Sanders took third place in another timed special stage and retained his second overall standing while narrowing down the deficit to 42 seconds.
Sanders said Stage two was a very long one – it was originally stage one but they were reversed due to the rain the other day.
“I started off second and then caught Ross (Branch) about 20 kilometres in. I opened from there till the refuelling at kilometre 210, so that meant navigating on my own all the way through the dunes, which went pretty well, actually,” he said.
“Then Tosha (Schareina) caught me at the refuelling and after that, I eased off just a little to make sure I didn’t have to open tomorrow. On the whole, the stage went well – got a few changes to make to the bike, and it’s going to be another long day tomorrow, but I’m looking forward to it.”
Sanders’ charge stormed on with a win in Stage Three, launching into the overall lead with an advantage of one minute and 35 seconds. As the third rider into the special, Sanders had two targets ahead of him in the form of Tosha Schareina and Adrien Van Beveren, both of whom he caught by kilometre 104.
Sanders said it had been super-hot, very dusty, and very demanding.
“I felt really good today and got off to a strong start. I caught the two guys ahead by the neutralization then pushed through the dust a little bit and got into the dunes,” he said.
“One of the guys ahead made a little mistake, but it meant it was difficult to get out front and collect any time bonus, so as the terrain turned a little rockier, I just played it smart and made sure I brought the bike home safely,”
“We have a new area to race tomorrow, so I’m looking forward to it.”
Sanders’ push to take the top spot for the event was not harmed by his performance in Stage Four, heading into the final day of racing with a 21 minute and 44 second lead over the competition. Following the issuing of penalties after Wednesday’s stage three, Sanders’ overall lead in the rally increased to over 11 minutes.
Despite a hard charge by rival Tosha Schareina throughout the stage, Sanders kept his cool under pressure to not only open the entire stage but to ultimately top the timesheets by an impressive five minutes and 31 seconds once the bonus time for leading out was awarded.
Sanders said the stage was very, very long with a lot of navigation.
“It was a new area here that we’ve never been to before in the race, so it was really cool to ride with some good tracks and good riding,” he said.
“I just focused on my navigation today and put that first over out-and-out speed. I pretty much nailed most things – I made a couple of little mistakes, but I was able to fix those pretty quick and keep up a good rhythm all day,”
“With a lot of the other guys getting lost today, I was able to open up the lead a bit more, so with one more day to go, I’m feeling good and looking forward to the finish.”
