Sanders and Moraes: the apex predator and the ambush hunter

Dakar 2025 | Stage 7 | AL DUWADIMI > AL DUWADIMI
January 12 ^th 2025 - 17:48 [GMT + 3]

FOCUS

The stage dazzled with views of Riyadh Province after rolling out of Al Duwadimi for a wide loop to the south-west of the city, stretching for a shade over 410 km following yesterday's decision to file a few miles off the start. Fast sections on limestone plateaus began to give way to dunes as the dominant landscape on the course. The downpours of the last few days increased the load-bearing capacity of the sand and made the tracks run deeper, providing an Ariadne's thread that led Daniel Sanders to his fifth stage win of the year. Co-drivers faced a similar challenge in the car race, competing on their very own course and therefore unable to follow the tracks out of the labyrinth. Lucas Moraes, the 27th driver out of the gate, pounced on the opportunity and stormed to victory as the ferocious battle for the top spot raged on between Henk Lategan and Yazeed Al Rajhi.

OUTLINE

• One biker has been head and shoulders above the rest since the Dakar got under way. The leader, Daniel Sanders, picked up his fifth stage win today, in part thanks to his flair and in part thanks to beginning the special in ninth place. Tosha Schareina, third in the stage and second overall, also benefited from the compact race situation near the end of the special.
• Unfazed by the challenge of starting in second place today, Adrien Van Beveren skilfully defended his podium spot with the help of a big haul of bonuses for opening the road. The Frenchman is now 26′07″ behind Sanders in the ranking, with Brabec in fourth place at 33′19″.
• Lucas Moraes, the 27th driver to hit the road, was a hunter on the prowl today. He crossed the line with the fastest time, bouncing back from a disastrous performance yesterday that had dashed his hopes of a podium finish. The Brazilian and his "Toy" prevailed over the Ford Raptor duo of Mattias Ekström and Mitch Guthrie. ·         Henk Lategan had a bad day at the office and saw his overall lead shrink to just 21 seconds over Yazeed Al Rajhi. Ekström also cut his deficit to 10′25″. Nasser Al Attiyah, on the other hand, was unable to capitalise on the events of the day and remains stuck in fourth place, 21′57″ from Lategan.
• The winner of the prologue, Corbin Leaverton, has had a rough ride since then, but he put his Challenger back in the spotlight, finishing 24 seconds ahead of Yasir Seaidan. Their tight fight in this special did nothing to trouble the Cavigliasso-Pertegarini husband-and-wife crew, who have led the overall since the first stage and now hold a half-hour advantage over Gonçalo Guerreiro.
• Another standout performer was Jeremías González Ferioli, the former quad rider who shone in South America (second in 2015 and third in 2018 and 2019), who nabbed his first special of the year, finishing 51 seconds clear of the SSV leader, Brock Heger. Over at Polaris, Xavier de Soultrait, second overall, ought to start worrying about the stops that are costing him his lead over "Chaleco". The Chilean is about 20 minutes behind him.
• A Bohemian rhapsody is playing on repeat in the truck race, this time with Aleš Loprais taking the stage win without troubling the overall leader, fellow Czech driver Martin Macík. Vaidotas Žala, a newcomer to the category, equalled his top finish from stage 3, coming in second, 9′34″ down on Loprais.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Daniel Sanders: "It was a pretty wet line to see"

Daniel Sanders clinched another stage win, his fifth in this Dakar, mirroring the exploit of fellow Australian Toby Price in 2016... when he went on to take his first Dakar!

"It was pretty fast, very fast. Technical at the start, we had a lot of rain. But it was only at the start, so it was a pretty wet line to see in front and just had us kind of correct and not follow the mistakes with the navigation. The speed was good, head was good, so it was a much better day."

A CRUSHING BLOW

Both in the desert and for Mason Klein, it never rains but it pours! The rider from Agua Dulce showed glimpses of his handling skills and navigational acumen in his first appearance in 2022, when he finished ninth, and the following year, when he bagged a stage win before retiring in stage 13. The promising American has since turned to the Chinese manufacturer Kove, committing to support their development programme. The venture came to a premature end in 2024 with a machine that was still too green, but 2025 was meant to be their breakthrough year. Among the 12 Kove riders on the start line, Klein was tasked with shining at the front. His chances of a strong overall result vanished in the first week as conjunctivitis plagued the man and clutch issues plagued the machine. Battling on, Klein dominated yesterday's stage until a navigation error near the end of the special denied the Chinese their first stage win. Today, his 450 Rally EX shuddered to a halt at km 319. Unable to repair his engine, Klein persevered for several hours before reading the writing on the wall and hitching a helicopter ride back to the bivouac. The French rider Neels Theric, currently fifteenth overall, is now Kove's leading ambassador in the 2025 Dakar.

STAT OF THE DAY: 5

It was a 5-star performance. The last biker to claimed 5 stage wins in the same Dakar was Toby Price —also an Australian riding a KTM— in 2016. Daniel Sanders matched the feat of his compatriot in Al Duwadimi today. So far, "Chucky" has won every single stage in which he has not been opening the road. Nine years ago, Price went on to secure his first Dakar title. Now, "Chucky" aspires to do the same and become the second man from Down Under to win the rally. A note of caution: Joan Barreda also bagged 5 stage wins in 2014, but he ended up far from the podium. 2,627 km (1,323 of which are timed) stand between the motorbike field and the finish.

PERFORMANCE OF THE DAY

Now that is what we call a Veloci-Raptor! Ford joined Toyota and Mini in the select club of manufacturers that have managed to place two cars on a stage podium. As in the prologue, Mattias Ekström (second) came within one position of giving the Raptor its historic first Dakar victory. Meanwhile, his teammate Mitch Guthrie (third) secured his best result since the start. Carlos Sainz, a four-time winner of the Dakar, was seen as the leader of the American squad. The fiery Swede and the Californian are demonstrating the depth of a line-up lacking in neither substance nor talent. Both drivers will be ones to watch from here to the finish, and not just for stage wins. Quiet but effective, Ekström has held third in the overall standings since stage 3. He has just halved his deficit to the leader, Henk Lategan, closing to within 10 minutes. At the same time, Guthrie tightened his hold on fifth place, confirming his status as the top rookie in Ultimate.

W2RC: SEAIDAN AND AKEEL RIGHT ON CUE

Yasir Seaidan and Dania Akeel now have three things in common: their Saudi passport, the BBR outfit and having endured a day of misery in the first round of the series. The 2024 winner in SSV encountered steering problems in stage 1, forcing him to quit the special. Yesterday, Akeel damaged a wishbone and had to wait longer than ideal for her service crew. Arriving at the bivouac at 6:30 am, she went straight to her pit before heading back out without sleep. After checking in 4 minutes late for the bivouac start, Akeel had a rethink: her goal of finishing in the top 5 of the special to score stage points had been scuppered by this false start. She wisely turned back to service her Taurus and get some rest, maximising her chances of shining in the upcoming stages. Seaidan has already bagged 14 points in this game. After victories yesterday and the day before, driver no. 400 finished second today. Akeel currently has 7 points and will be keen to follow her compatriot's lead. The Saudi SSV drivers will be taking no prisoners from now on!

THE MAKINGS OF A CLASSIC

Who remembers the epic Dakar saga of Citroën 2CVs? Not the Dakar veterans. From 1979 to 2007, when the last "Tin Snail" entered the Dakar, fourteen 2CVs tried their luck, but none ever made it to Lake Rose. This year, there are two running in the Dakar Classic, including a 1968 model. The oldest vehicle in the event started this morning in 68th position overall out of 80 vehicles still in contention. The Citroën from team 2Chameaux of Floris de Raadt and David Kann is also the least powerful in the entire bivouac, with its original engine producing just 38 hp. Can anything stop it on the road to Shubaytah? The tyres, perhaps… The crew gambled, without prior testing, on snow tyres, which have proven fragile on Saudi tracks, so their stock could melt away like snow in the sun. De Raadt and Kann are scouring Saudi Arabia for snow tyres! It is like finding a needle in a haystack… Pretty convenient for De Raadt, an inventor of special medical needles from the Netherlands. The Dakar Classic never fails to deliver amazing stories!