The Australian started the Al Salamiya to Al-Hofuf special in eighth position overall but is now 11th and, worse still, trails the leader by 39:43s.

He was already set to lose time when he stopped for several minutes near the Kilometre 229 waypoint, and the reason for that has now become apparent.

Sanders’ GasGas ended up without a fuel cap after the fill-up at Kilometre 187, causing fuel to leak onto his legs

“Another rough one,” he admitted.

“We struggled a lot riding today and navigating through, just trying to keep the pace and trying to stay on the roadbook but, unfortunately, those two things aren’t working at the moment.

“So, struggling a lot and, at the refuel, I lost my rear fuel tank cap, so that was leaking fuel everywhere on the back of my legs so that was on fire.

“It wasn’t good, so I had to stop and repair that and try and save as much fuel as I could to make it to the finish line.

“So, it wasn’t a great day at all, but still many days to come. We’ll regroup tonight and come out again tomorrow.”

Frustrations are growing for compatriot Toby Price after the Red Bull KTM rider also gave up more time on Stage 4.

Price remains eighth overall but is now 34:54s away from the top of the general classification.

“Not the best day for me,” said the two-time Dakar champion.

“With so many tracks ahead of us in the sand and some tough navigation on the stage, we got lost a little midway through and ended up losing some time.

“It’s still very early days with a long way to go, but it’s always frustrating to have a rough day.

“There were a lot of spectators out there on the special, which is always good to see.

“Overall though, I’m happy to be here at the finish in one piece and still well in the race, so we’ll focus on tomorrow and see what that brings.”

Even now former leader Ross Branch had a rough day, bringing his Hero to the finish line with bent handlebars.

The Botswanan has dropped to second in the general classification, 1:15s off the pace, after setting the fourth-fastest stage time.

“I thought I’d try bent style handlebars today,” he joked.

“No, really it was a rough day for me, one of the days I’d rather forget.

“I crashed after 40km just trying to look at the roadbook and I hit a rock. Then I crashed again 20km before the finish just going into the dunes.

“It was a bit of camel grass hidden in the sand and that threw me over the handlebars. But I’m okay and the bike is repairable. I don’t think I lost too much time.”

KTM’s top rider is Kevin Benavides, who was third on the day and is fourth in the general classification, 20:39s away from the lead.