Van Beveren recovers his stage victory, Sanders plenty of time!

The rest day promises to be doubly saving for Daniel Sanders on the 2025 Dakar. Leader of the general classification since the start given last Friday, the KTM rider learned today that the heavy penalty imposed at the end of the fifth stage by the marshals was ultimately canceled.

After having perfectly managed Thursday’s stage by limiting the damage while controlling his direct competitors, even if it meant taking back time for some, the Austrian was disillusioned by receiving an eight-minute sanction. He was accused of three speeding violations in limited areas. Although he had retained the lead of the rally despite this hard blow, the gaps had narrowed considerably.

Finally, Daniel Sanders will indeed benefit from his excellent performance and the work put in to increase his advantage. With the removal of this penalty, he saw his overall lead increase from 7’02 to 15’02 over Tosha Schareina. This is quite simply the largest gap observed between first and second since the start of this 47th edition.

Returning to Haïl for the rest day on Thursday evening, Daniel Sanders was satisfied with his very solid first week, but he deplored the technical problems linked to his navigation equipment, which may have caused an initial incorrect reading of the data by the FIM commissioners.

“Over the last 40 km, I had a new problem with my navigation instruments”he told the official Dakar website. “I’m disappointed. Before this I made a few mistakes, the others caught up with me. I’m starting to have experience after all these years and I know what to do and control things. My navigation was also good , I know I can do it, I just need to have the right equipment.”

Now having a quarter of an hour in advance, Daniel Sanders will defend his leadership on a series of courses which promises to be still long between now and next Friday, with terrain which notably promises more sand and dunes. Which will not displease Adrien van Beveren, who also benefited from the leniency of the commissioners.

The Frenchman also had his two-minute speeding penalty overturned, making him the winner of stage five. This is his sixth success on a Dakar, his first in 2025, and here he climbs to third place in the general classification, with a delay of 25’48.

General classification Motorcycles