Motocross maestro Daniel “Chucky” Sanders remains on top position after stage seven in the 2026 Dakar Rally, despite suffering a speeding penalty.
The Three Bridges local sped off to a great start in stage six, collecting time bonuses and overtaking the leaders, but was setback to third position after he was hit with a six minute speeding penalty.
“Really disappointed after today. I pushed so hard from start to finish and started to collect time bonuses because I overtook the leaders and was opening the stage. This gave me a really good lead, but then I was given a six minute speeding penalty, which put me back to third position.
“I am still leading the overall, but with a slim margin,” he said in a Facebook post.
He hit the ground running in stage seven where he managed to catch both leaders, improving his overall lead and finishing in fourth position.
The start of stage seven saw Sanders flying at high speeds through large open valleys, before he slowed his pace to confront more technical terrain in the latter half.
“The start of the stage was super fast, but towards the end there was some fun rocky terrain. Tomorrow I start in fourth position and I’m ready to go.”
Sanders finished stage seven behind KTM teammates Luciano Benavides and Edgar Canet, while Honda’s Adrien Van Beveren sits in third place.
