Daniel Sanders: “The last two days have been super high speed”

Dakar 2026 | Stage 8 | SMARA > REFUGE
January 12 ^th 2026 - 12:47 [GMT + 3]

Daniel Sanders finished second on the day, 4'50’’ behind Luciano Benavides, who led the way and pocketed a total of 7'28’’ in time bonuses. Sanders has lost the overall rankings lead by 10’’ to his Argentinean team-mate.

 “The last two days have been super high speed and today was a little bit easier for the navigation but it was super hard to make up time on Luciano opening. He did a really good job. It was unlucky for anyone that wasn’t opening or even second. Starting from fourth was really hard to make up time and any mistake you made meant there was no chance to catch the front. Hopefully it won’t be as fast and easy as this again tomorrow. The first week was so difficult. Yesterday, you could see the faster pace coming and some easier navigation, then today was just incredibly fast again”.