Profile of DANIEL SANDERS - RED BULL GASGAS FACTORY RACING

N°5 Bike RED BULL GASGAS FACTORY RACING

SAM SUNDERLAND

PABLO QUINTANILLA

DANIEL SANDERS

(aus) 1.8m / 85kg

Hobbies

Farming, bee keeping, building motocross tracks

“I've shown who I am and what I'm capable of doing”

Daniel Sanders' Dakar journey, and in rally-raid in general, hasn't been the smoothest. After a brilliant start in 2021, when he finished 4th and best Dakar rookie, things got complicated for the young Melbourne talent. If it hadn't been for an unfortunate kerb and, more importantly, a lapse of concentration one early morning in January 2022 in the middle of a liaison section, who knows how the Dakar might have ended for Daniel Sanders? Perhaps on the top step of the podium in Jeddah? That morning, the day after the rest day, the Australian rider was in third place after winning two of the first six stages. But his second Dakar ended in hospital with a fractured elbow and left wrist. The last edition of the rally was no picnic either. His preparation was cut short by a sore elbow, food poisoning and a thorn stuck in a muscle of his arm for ten days. The Australian still managed to finish seventh. The season seemed to be going well for the rider nicknamed 'Chucky', but a month after winning his first rally in Mexico (the Sonora Rally, round 3 of the W2RC championship), he broke his femur in a testing accident in the Australian outback. Not optimal in his quest to one day win the Dakar. Once again, Sanders, one of the two factory GasGas riders along with Sam Sunderland, is short on preparation but could rely on his speed and the experience of his three Dakars.

"The last Dakar ended in 7th place for me. It was a rollercoaster ride, having started the rally without any preparation. I only had five days on the new bike, three days of testing with a road book, and that's not much when you're competing in the toughest race in the world. I set off on this Dakar without knowing what to expect. I didn't even know if I would be able to compete after having suffered so much with my elbow, which was only 70% healed. In any case, I didn't have a facial injury this year (in reference to an insect bite in 2021 and a blow to the mouth in 2022), but I did have a 20 mm thorn stuck in the muscle of my arm for ten days and food poisoning for two days. I couldn't eat and had no energy. Looking back, I don't know how I finished each day. I'm proud of what I achieved in those circumstances. I showed people who I am and what I'm capable of doing.
I was thrilled that I finally got my first win at the Sonora Rally. It took a long time, and I was pretty unlucky”

Vehicle

RED BULL GASGAS FACTORY RACING

GASGAS 450 RALLY FACTORY
RED BULL GASGAS FACTORY RACING

Mark GASGAS
Model 450 RALLY FACTORY
Performance tuner GasGas factory team
Assistance GasGas factory team
Class Rally GP

Ranking 2024

All news of D. Sanders

Dakar 2024: Brabec and Sainz, masters of the dunes

The 46th edition of the Dakar, the 5th to be organised in Saudi Arabia, has finished after more than 4,700 kilometres of specials and a total distance of almost 8,000 kilometres, which tested the riders, drivers, co-pilots and crews, from the ancient city of AlUla to the shores of the Red Sea, passing through the oceans of dunes in the Empty Quarter. The major winners of the 2024...

Price third fastest

Price has just posted the third-fastest time in the first third of the special. The man from Oz started the stage in fourteenth place. We will have a clear snapshot of the state of play once Quintanilla and Sanders, who started eighteenth and nineteenth, have gone through the time check.

Dani Sanders: "It was rock and roll out there, mate"

In his first race back from injury, stage 1 put Dani Sanders through the wringer. However, the Australian, tough as nails, put in a flawless performance to finish in the top 10.

"It was rock and roll out there, mate. I loved it. I definitely wish I set the bike up a little different for today. It's punishment out there. It's a good way to...

Schareina and Ekström: a day for sprinters

FOCUS
The name may seem misleading, with a prologue that turned out to have an extraordinary dimension, over a distance of 27 kilometres that was a condensed version, albeit a very accessible one, of the whole range of terrains encountered on the Dakar. The region of AlUla is ideal for such a sample, with sandy portions that were followed by rocky zones and even several...

Daniel Sanders: “It was good to get back on the bike”

The Australian arrived on the Dakar somewhat short of top form, but nevertheless achieved the 2nd best time of the day, 12’’ behind Tosha Schareina.

“It was okay, I guess. It was good to get back on the bike and into the desert. It’s been a long time for me since the broken femur, so I just wanted to push and try to get some...

First victory for Schareina

Tosha Schareina could not have hoped for a better start to his third Dakar and his first as an official rider. The man from Valencia has proven to be the quickest on the prologue to pick up his first stage win on the Dakar. He has beaten the GASGAS ridden by Daniel Sanders by 12’’ and the Hero ridden by Ross Branch by 19. Adrien Van Beveren has put the...

Sanders steps up to the plate

You wait for one GASGAS and then another turns up immediately after! Seventh last year despite food poisoning and a thorn stuck in his arm, Daniel Sanders is back again after a year of ups and downs. “Chucky” hurt his thigh in the Australian Outback and begins this Dakar somewhat under-prepared… but that has not stopped him from achieving the day’s...