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Navigation once again proved to be an issue during the journey to Shubaytah, but not enough to prevent Sanders from gaining more time on rivals Tosha Schareina, Adrien van Beveren and teammate Luciano Benavides.
Sanders wound up finishing 11th for the stage, 8’22” behind winner Michael Docherty, who currently leads the Rally 2 classification.
With two stages remaining, Sanders leads the general classification by 16’31” and will hope to avoid any significant mistakes on his way to capturing a maiden Dakar crown.
“It’s pretty much survival tomorrow and (to) just get through, but yeah, I think we’ll be alright,” Sanders said.
“We’re feeling good and even the first 40, 50km felt really rough in the sand because it’s completely different, softer sand here compared to where we have been previously.
“But in the end, I felt really good in the navigation and was opening a little bit and it felt nice. So, ready for tomorrow.”
Compatriot Toby Hederics was still recovering from illness during the 10th stage and opted to take things at a slower pace as a result.
Hederics found the Empty Quarter’s soft sand particularly challenging at times and unlike the terrain he’s used to back in Australia.
Nevertheless, the Bas World KTM Racing rider crossed the line in 27th position from the Rally 2 contingent and remains in ninth position overall.
Brothers Peter and Christopher Schey described the day as ‘dunes, dunes and more dunes’ en route to finishing 25th in the Classic Dakar competition, and moving up to 14th in the overall standings.
Meanwhile, history was made in the T3 Challenger as Dania Akeel emerged victorious, becoming the fourth woman to win a stage at the rally – and the first from Saudi Arabia.
