Sam Sunderland: “It’s always nice to lead the rally”

Dakar 2022 | Stage 2 | BISHA > BISHA
January 3 ^rd 2022 - 13:24 [GMT + 3]

2nd on the day’s special, the official GasGas rider continues to boost the reputation of the Catalan constructor o the Dakar following the two stage wins achieved by team-mate Daniel Sanders.

“I just tried to focus on my navigation. Even though I could see the tracks of the other guys, I was always double-checking, double-checking and double-checking. Sometimes it gets a bit annoying when you slow down to double check and it’s always correct. It’s easier just to push on with the tracks. I stayed strict with myself and I caught Adrien and the guy in front. After the refuelling I saw that the guys had gone wrong. Me and Adrien were there together and it was super nice, honestly, opening with him. We took turns for some kilometres each, but it was difficult, really difficult navigation. I’m really happy, the bike is working well and I feel pretty happy with the day. It’s always nice to lead the rally, but we’ve got a long way to go. It doesn’t mean so much because we know this race. The navigation is so tricky and it looks like every day when the guys are opening they are losing a lot of time. There are so many long difficult days to come, I’m sure, so I’m sure there will be a lot more switching around, but of course it’s still good to lead and it shows that we are on point and on pace. The bike feels really good and physically I feel pretty strong this year. I’m looking forward to some long days to come”.