MADRID, 12 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Australian pilot Daniel Sanders (KTM) has taken a step towards authority in the general classification of the motorcycle category of the Dakar Rally by winning the seventh stage, a 412-kilometre special starting and finishing in Al Duwadimi (Saudi Arabia), ahead of his main rival for the title, the Spanish Tosha Schareina (Honda).
In a chaotic stage, the two Touareg candidates kept their fight between the dunes, with an initial advantage for the oceanic and the lead for the Valencian starting at kilometer 117. However, at kilometer 289 Sanders regained the lead of the race and no one managed to cough on him anymore.
He entered the finish line with a time of 4:10:33, with an advantage of 3:47 over the Spaniard and 5:27 over the Chilean Pablo Quintanilla (Honda), and became the first driver to win five special stages in the same edition of the Dakar since his compatriot Toby Price – who retired in the car category on Saturday due to a concussion of his co-driver Sam Sunderland – in 2016.
In this way, Sanders reinforces his margin over Schareina, who goes from 11:46 to 15:33, the largest difference recorded so far in the toughest raid in the world.
The impressive pace of the leader also took its toll on the third overall, the Frenchman Adrien Van Beveren (Honda), who is 26:07 behind, although the big loser of the day in the leading quartet was the defending champion, the American Ricky Brabec (Honda), who left 10 minutes behind and is now 33:19 behind Sanders.
This Monday, the runners will face the seventh of the twelve stages of the ‘raid’, a 483-kilometer special starting in Al Duwadimi and finishing in the country’s capital, Riyadh.