With his energy levels slowly restoring following a sickness bug that zapped all of his power ahead of yesterday’s stage five, Daniel Sanders made it known today that he’s not out of the running in the race for victory at the 2023 Dakar Rally. Clocking in as the seventh-fastest rider on today’s stage six, just three minutes behind the stage winner, it was a perfect execution of damage limitation by the Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing star who remains eighth in the provisional standings.
Daniel Sanders: “A super-tough day again but fortunately a lot better than yesterday. It’s important to stay in the race but man, it was difficult. I felt pretty good up until around 50 kilometers in but then it was a bit of a struggle. Fortunately, the stage was a little shorter today and the team did a great job in getting my bike set up so yeah, not great, but certainly not too bad. We have a couple more stages until the rest day so if we can get to there, get some decent rest and regroup for next week, then we should be good.”
After the wind was well and truly taken out of his sails on stage five, Daniel, despite still lacking the energy needed to ride at full gas through stage six, rode smart and steady to safely complete the 358-kilometer special. With a bit of an earlier finish today, Sanders is already back in his camper and getting some much-needed rest ahead of tomorrow’s stage seven. And once that one’s done, there’s just one more special to go before the event’s rest day on Monday.
Results (provisional): Dakar Rally 2023, stage 6
1. Luciano Benavides (Husqvarna) 3:14:19
2. Skyler Howes (Husqvarna) 3:15:15
3. Toby Price (KTM) 3:16:39
7. Daniel Sanders (GASGAS) 3:17:19
Overall Provisional Classification (after stage 6)
1. Skyler Howes (Husqvarna) 26:31:52
2. Toby Price (KTM) 26:35:23
3. Kevin Benavides (KTM) 26:38:53
8. Daniel Sanders (GASGAS) 26:51:46
- From GasGas Factory Racing
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