Sanders in ‘survival’ mode as Dakar finish line nears

For Australia’s Daniel Sanders, it’s a case of consolidation. While he was only 11th on Stage 10 of the rally, he still extended his lead over Tosha Schareina.

The Spaniard was 17th fastest, allowing Sanders to stretch his advantage to 16m31s.

Just two stages remain in the rally, the first of which could be decisive with a whopping 540km of action before a much shorter 131km loop.

“Yeah, it’s pretty much survival tomorrow and just get through,” said Sanders.

“And hopefully there’s some faster guys coming out the back to open the track tomorrow. But yeah, I think we’ll be all right.

“We’re feeling good and even the first 40, 50 kms 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 nav and I was opening a little bit and then yeah, it felt nice. So yeah, ready for tomorrow.

“If I did the perfect race I would have executed a very good position yesterday.

“Unfortunately I didn’t get to execute yesterday’s stages as well as I would have liked to but that’s rally.

“You can never have a perfect race unless you do a motocross race or something really short and simple but yeah, you’re always chasing perfection but that’s the goal.

“One day to get it, it would be nice.”

Despite the large deficit to Sanders, Schareina is still optimistic about his hopes of victory.

“It was all in from the first kms in the dunes,” he said.

“We tried to warm up in the first kms. A little arm pump in my arms, but yeah, it was good.

“I think I [tried] to go more or less slow in the dunes to not open the stage tomorrow. But yeah, I think I’ll warm up this 100km for tomorrow’s stage.

“I felt good, I felt really with me. Just started about two weeks racing, so yeah, that’s all. I think they told me that they put me two more minutes, so I start tomorrow behind him.

“But yeah, good for that. For sure, it’s so complicated in 300km to cut 17 minutes, but everything is possible.”

The 2025 Dakar Rally concludes on January 17.