Men and machines suffered: Saudi driver Yazeed al-Rajhi and Australian biker Daniel Sanders won the grueling 2nd stage of the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia on Monday « 48h chrono ».
“It was really very, very hard. I have the impression that we are on our tenth day of Dakar”reacted Yazeed al-Rajhi upon his arrival at the bivouac of the famous rally-raid, which only started on Friday and lasts until January 17.
The 43-year-old Saudi (Overdrive) completed the 967 km special, spread over two days, in 10h 56min 54sec, despite a 2min penalty for speeding.
He is followed by the South African Henk Lategan at 4min 16sec, who takes the lead in the provisional general classification.
Yazeed al-Rajhi led the race almost throughout the two days in the Bisha region (southwest). Only Nasser al-Attiyah overtook him at km 231, before being caught shortly before km 373. The Qatari finished third.
For this long stage, the competitors had to bivouac in the desert and did not benefit from the assistance of their teams at the night stop.
Victim of a rollover on Sunday which seriously damaged his Ford Raptor, defending champion Carlos Sainz managed to finish the stage but 01h 35min behind the leader.
Being half an hour late at the camp on Sunday evening, following a fan problem which overheated his engine, Frenchman Sébastien Loeb largely made up for his delay on Monday and finished 7th, at 13min 10sec.
Australian Daniel Sanders during the prologue of the 47th Dakar in Bisha, Saudi Arabia on January 3, 2025 / Valery HACHE / AFP
And three for Sanders
“It was good gas all the way. Apart from when we were down, we didn’t give up much”declared the 50-year-old Alsatian on arrival, regretting the “plugs” along the route.
The nine-time world rally champion believed on Sunday that his mechanical problems were going to cost him once again his dream of a triumph in the Dakar, which still eludes him in his ninth participation.
“When I arrived at the first +refuel+, I thought we were staying there”he confided at the desert camp where the pilots had to spend the night mid-stage.
Dacia driver Cristina Gutiérrez had to leave the 48 hours on the second day of racing, towed by a support truck at km 729 due to a power steering problem.
On the motorbike, Australian Daniel Sanders continues to dominate the rally by winning for the third time in a row on his KTM in 11h 12 min 13sec, 6 min 45 sec ahead of Frenchman Adrien Van Beveren (Honda).
This third victory in a row, after the prologue and the first stage, is an unprecedented series in the motorcycle category since that achieved by the Spaniard Joan Barreda in 2017 between Bolivia and Argentina.
Daniel Sanders aims to become the second Australian to win the Dakar on a motorcycle after Toby Price (2016 and 2018).
He logically retains the lead in the provisional general classification, with 12 min 36 sec ahead of Skyler Howes. The third step is occupied by the Botswanan Ross Branch (Hero), four seconds behind the American.
