Dakar 2024 has been a little up and down for Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing’s Daniel Sanders. But today’s ride, on Stage 10 of 12, was definitely a standout performance from Chucky as he raced across the finish line as fourth-fastest. More importantly, he was just 47 seconds behind the stage winner. The strong result is certainly a nice shot of confidence in the arm for Daniel with just two more days of racing at the Dakar to go.
Following a relatively steady start to Stage 10, Sanders regrouped while refueling and certainly came out swinging after that. Navigating perfectly through the remaining kilometers on the looping stage, Chucky made up some serious time to complete the special in fourth. And it was definitely tight at the top as after almost four hours of racing, Daniel completed the stage just 47 seconds behind the stage winner and current leader of the race, Ricky Brabec.
Daniel Sanders: “It was quite a slow start for me today as my body was quite sore from yesterday. When I got to refueling, I had a little motivational talk with myself and that seemed to do the trick. I really focused on my roadbook, and I think I hit a few notes that some of the other guys may have missed. So, I was able to make some decent time up today and bounce back from a tough couple of days with a good result.”
Price covered much of the 371 kilometers raced against the clock without issue. Despite losing a little time over the final 50 kilometers to his rivals, the two-time Dakar Champion was able to complete the stage in 10th place. The Australian lies sixth overall, one place behind teammate Benavides.
Toby Price: “It was a decent stage for me today. I made a couple of little mistakes towards the end, but overall, I’m happy with how things went. The boys out front did a really good job, and it’s definitely a mission to try and keep hold of them. All in all, I’m feeling good – my wrist was suffering a little in the rocks out there today, but yeah, it was a good stage. I caught Pablo (Quintanilla) and was riding with him for a bit, then Ross (Branch) caught up. It was good fun to ride in the group like that. Couple of stages left to go, so we’ll keep pushing and see what happens at the end.”
