Daniel Sanders has raced into the history books, becoming only the second Australian to triumph at the Dakar Rally and the first motorcyclist in 16 years to lead from start to finish in the great two-week race.
The man known throughout the demanding endurance sport as Chucky flew home across the desert dunes to Shubaytah on his Red Bull KTM on Friday to seal a magnificent wire-to-wire triumph in Saudi Arabia.
The 30-year-old from the Yarra Valley finished sixth over the final mass-start 61-kilometre sprint, having decided to “play it safe” as he protected his nine-minute lead over his nearest rival, Spain’s Monster Energy Honda rider, Tosha Schareina.
Sanders ended up losing only 10 seconds to Schareina as he triumphed in the provisional final standings by 8 minutes and 50 seconds to become the first Aussie for six years since his friend, two-time motorcycle winner Toby Price, to prevail in 47 editions of the world’s most challenging rally.
“It’s massive. When I came over the last dune, I could see the bivouac and then I just got instant chills through the whole body,” said the emotional Sanders afterwards.
“I was super, super nervous, yeah, couldn’t believe it. All the emotions started coming through as you could see the finish line.
“It’s the biggest race in the world for motorbikes and off-road, so to win the Six-Day International Enduro and then now the Dakar, it’s just ticked off all the goals for my career and everything I’ve wanted to achieve. So it’s a massive accomplishment.”
Sanders, who hails from the rural Victorian town of Three Bridges where he grew up on the family’s apple farm, is a keen beekeeper as well as being something of a cult figure among petrolheads as he’s become one of the best riders in the world.
His rivals were certainly stung from day one when Chucky won the prologue of the forbidding 7700km race, and he continued to wreak damage by winning four of the first five stages to open up a lead he never looked like relinquishing.
Sanders has finally prevailed in his fifth attempt at the brutal race in the Saudi deserts, his previous efforts having been dogged by bad luck and injuries after he finished as the top rookie in fourth place back in 2021.
The following year, he was going well with two stage wins under his belt but, while lying third, fractured his elbow and wrist in an accident. In 2023, he limped home seventh after a nasty bout of food poisoning and a thorn stuck in a muscle in his arm.
One year, he even got stung beneath his race helmet by a bee which, fortunately, as a bloke who’s used to looking after over 100 hives, didn’t bother him too much.
In the build-up to last year’s race, he broke his femur training in the outback, and wasn’t at full fitness as he finished eighth, but victory in the Rally of Morocco last October set him up for the biggest win of his career.
The Dakar is the classic off-road marathon challenge that started life as the Paris to Dakar Rally, which swept across Africa to Senegal. But because of security dangers, it has morphed into a desert challenge across Saudi Arabia.
AAP