Three Bridges’ Daniel Sanders is the champion of the 2025 Dakar Rally.
He also now sits in pole position in the 2025 World Rally-Raid Championship with four more events throughout the year to come in Abu Dhabi, South Africa, Portugal and Morocco.
Daniel Sanders saw his overall lead reduce to 11 minutes and three seconds after Stage Eight of the 2025 Dakar Rally, but it was all according to plan.
Sanders finished the stage in seventh and copped a speed penalty that added extra time to his overall total.
In an interview after the stage, Sanders said it was very, very tricky at the beginning and he lost a lot of time early on.
“After that, I got into a really good rhythm and the navigation was easier but you had to be really switched on because we lost so much time at the beginning. It was really important to stay focused all day and push all the way to the end. Opening a lot of the stage was good and I had a really good rhythm. I felt comfortable and happy with the technical navigation,“ he said.
“It was a good finish, a strong finish compared to a bad start. Hopefully we’re in the middle of the top 10. It would be nice to start in sixth or seventh or somewhere near there for tomorrow. I think tomorrow’s going to be the last difficult navigation day before we head down to the Empty Quarter. It was good to start up front today and we’ll see how we finish up tomorrow,“
“I’m happy with the position where we are and I’m sure it will be good. Tomorrow’s going to be a really important stage, same as today – every day’s been important. So, tomorrow will probably be just as important as the rest.“
Daniel Sander’s Dakar Rally lead restrengthened as he came third in Stage Nine of the 2025 Dakar Rally.
The result saw him put another three minutes and 42 seconds between himself and Tosha Schareina in second, holding a 14-minute and 45-second overall lead.
In a post on his Facebook page, Sanders said he is keen to have some fun in the sand for the next few stages.
“I had a really good start on the stage allowing me to make up some time, however after the halfway point there was some tricky navigation,“ he said.
“I made it home safe and was able to extend the overall lead.“
Stage 10 was another steady performance from Sanders, finishing 11th in the stage but putting more time between himself and his closest competitors overall.
In a post on his Facebook page, Sanders said it was a good day.
“I placed 11th for the stage but was still able to make some time up on the closest pursuers in the overall,” he said.
The penultimate stage of the rally saw the first real wobble of Sander’s Dakar campaign.
Despite a delayed start and a crash, the conclusion of Stage 11 saw Sanders still holding a comfortable overall lead after a sixth-placed stage finish.
In a post on his Facebook page, Sanders said the stage didn’t start until later than scheduled because of the amount of fog present limiting visibility.
“I had a crash today during the sand dunes and I’m feeling pretty rough today,” he said.
“I still have an overall lead of 9 minutes and we have one stage left of 61kms. Let’s bring it home!”
Bring it home he did, with another sixth-placed stage finish in Stage 12 securing Sanders’ first ever Dakar Rally win.
Sanders finished eight minutes and 50 seconds ahead of second-placed Spaniard Tosha Schareina and 14 minutes and 46 seconds ahead of third-placed Frenchman Adrien van Beveren, marking a comfortable win for the Three Bridges local who never lost his overall lead throughout the race.
Interviewed after the stage, Sanders said when he came out of the dunes, he could see the bivouac and just got instant chills through his whole body.
“I was super nervous. I couldn’t believe it. All the emotions started coming through and I could see the finishing line. It’s the biggest race in the world of motorbikes and off-roading,” he said.
“To win the six-day international enduro and now the Dakar, it’s just ticked off all the goals for my career and everything I’ve wanted to achieve. It’s a massive accomplishment,”
“For the team, my family, friends, my girlfriend and everyone who’s seen me undergo all the lows and highs along the way, it’s finally all paid off. They knew I could do it, everyone who’s backed me along the way, even after the last three years of a lot of lows, really, now we’ve got the up, so all the hard work has paid off”.
