Maintaining his consistent run of top-10 results at this year’s Dakar Rally, Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing’s Daniel Sanders has completed a technically challenging stage eight as the ninth-fastest racer. After making a couple of small mistakes early on, Chucky put his head down and was able to finish the 458-kilometer special just over five minutes adrift of the stage winner. Sanders maintains seventh overall with four stages to go.
Times among the leading riders were certainly tight on stage eight with Sanders crossing the finish line to clock in ninth-fastest. A couple of problems early on cost the Aussie some minutes, although he was able to claw some of those back by navigating to perfection through the second half of the special.
Daniel Sanders: "Today didn’t start so well for me, unfortunately. I made a mistake early on and then crashed on top of a dune, so by the refueling point I’d already lost around four minutes. After that, I focused on my navigation. It was really rocky in the second half of the stage, so it was a tough day but we’re feeling good for tomorrow."
Provisional Results: Dakar Rally 2024, stage 8
1. Kevin Benavides (KTM) 3:35:03
2. Luciano Benavides (KTM) 3:35:34
3. Adrien Van Beveren (Honda) 3:36:30
9. Daniel Sanders (GASGAS) 3:40:13
Overall Provisional Classification (after stage 8)
1. Ricky Brabec (Honda) 36:16:31
2. Ross Branch (Hero) 36:17:13
3. Jose Ignacio Cornejo (Honda) 36:20:52
7. Daniel Sanders (GASGAS) 36:55:14