Watch daily extended highlights from the 2025 edition of the Dakar Rally each morning via our - plus a daily 15-minute mini recap and more from January 4 to January 18 (AEDT).
Sanders finished third on the day, 3’04” behind stage winner and Red Bull KTM Factory teammate Luciano Benavides, with GC rival Tosha Schareina crossing in seventh place after a crash cost the Honda rider precious time.
After finishing seventh on Stage 8, Sanders tackled the stage to Haradh later in the order and quickly benefitted from the clear path his rivals left behind.
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Dakar Rally 2025
series • motorsport
series • motorsport
Schareina’s crash 20 kilometres into the special gave Sanders impetus to try and win the stage, only for the changing terrain and navigational issues to take effect towards the final 100 kilometres.
Nevertheless, Sanders was able to extend his overall advantage out to 14’45” ahead of the final three stages.
“I saw Tosha had a crash at the check point, he said he was okay,” Sanders said.
“I lost a bit of time today. I couldn’t see the tracks properly because it was really white dirt.
“It was really hard to navigate and I was just making sure I was on the right spots. I only got lost a couple of times.”
Meanwhile, Toby Hederics had his best day of his maiden Dakar, finishing fifth in the Rally 2 despite being unwell for most of the stage with what was later said to be a bout of food poisoning.
And fellow Australians Peter and Christopher Schey had to take a dune test as part of their Classic Dakar requirements on Stage 9, but made it back to the bivouac safely off the back of a 27th place finish that leaves them still 15th in the general classification.
