Sam Sunderland continues to lead the 2022 Dakar Rally, with the British racer enjoying a three-minute advantage over his closest rival in the provisional overall standings! Chasing down the leading riders from his 17th place starting position on today’s 465-kilometre special, the Brit would ultimately complete the stage as the seventh fastest rider.
For GASGAS Factory Racing’s Daniel Sanders, the Aussie was on a charge all day, opening much of the special and finishing the stage in 17th to move up to fourth in the general rankings.
- Sam Sunderland maintains Dakar Rally lead
- Over 15 hours of rally racing now complete
- Sanders opened much of today’s stage four
Sam
Sam Sunderland: “Things were going well today until I had a small crash in a riverbed while checking my roadbook. I just clipped a rock, and that was all it took to take me down. I was able to get up pretty quickly, just as Barreda came by, so I latched onto him to the finish. I’ll get some rest now and prepare myself for tomorrow.”
Daniel Sanders rocketed forwards from his fifth-place starting position on stage four, opening the challenging special from the 158-kilometre mark. With vast, rolling dunes in front of him, Chucky skillfully navigated across more than 300 kilometres to successfully reach the finish line in Riyadh. To complete the stage as the 17th fastest rider, he underlined the solid effort he’s putting in on his GASGAS RC 450F Rally.
Daniel
Daniel Sanders: “I got off to a perfect start today and caught up to the leaders pretty quickly. After refuelling, a group of us opened the stage, and then after a tricky spot with navigation, Skyler Howesbroke was free initially and me.
Then I pushed on to lead on my own. Near the end, I jumped off the top of a dune, and I landed on a grassy mound, which wasn’t ideal, and I was fortunate not to crash there. But I cracked on with it and could finish the stage without any further issues. So all-in-all, a decent day for me.”
Results (provisional): Dakar Rally 2022, stage 4
- 1. Joan Barreda (Honda) 4:06:06
- 2. Pablo Quintanilla (Honda) 4:10:43
- 3. Danilo Petrucci (KTM) 4:12:59
- 7. Sam Sunderland (GASGAS) 4:16:21
- 17. Daniel Sanders (GASGAS) 4:24:34
Overall Provisional Classification (after stage 4)
- 1. Sam Sunderland (GASGAS) 15:30:01
- 2. Matthias Walkner (KTM) 15:33:01
- 3. Adrien Van Beveren (Yamaha) 15:34:55
- 4. Daniel Sanders (GASGAS) 15:37:08
via GASGAS
