Bikesportnz

Tech3 KTM Factory Racing’s Danilo Petrucci has won stage five of the Dakar Rally.

Putting in a fast but measured performance, the former MotoGP star impressed, once again by posting the fastest time on the 341-kilometre special.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Toby Price was initially quickest on the stage, but was later awarded a six-minute penalty, which dropped the Australian down to fifth. Price now lies 14th overall for the race overall.

Meanwhile, Britain’s Sam Sunderland (GasGas) maintains his place at the top of the leader-board even after his 12th place finish on stage five.

After his heavy fall the previous day, Sunderland knew that he was in for a tough day of racing on stage five.

But knowing he needed to deliver a strong result to maintain his lead in the rally, the experienced Brit managed to ignore the neck and shoulder pain he was experiencing to bravely complete the fifth stage as the 12th fastest rider.

Now, with just one stage to go before the event’s much needed rest day, Sunderland retains his place at the top of the overall timesheets.

But the hero of the hour was surely Petrucci.

In what has been a race of huge highs and lows for road-racing hero Petrucci, the Italian has proven his off-road credentials in no uncertain terms, winning stage five of the 2022 Dakar in what is his first ever rally raid competition.

Completing the previous day’s stage four as third fastest, Petrucci was penalized 10 minutes for speeding, and was relegated to 15th.

However, setting off with an advantageous start position into the stage five special, and focusing on improving his roadbook skills, the MotoGP race winner was able to steadily move up through the field to ultimately take the win.

The next day’s stage six of the Dakar will see the bike class follow the same route that the cars took today, and as such Petrucci will have some tracks already left in the sand ahead of him as he opens his first ever rally stage.

“Today was quite a long day. I set off this morning and decided I really wanted to learn and improve my navigation, so I didn’t push too hard at the beginning,” said Petrucci.

“After one corner there was a large dune with a group of camels on the other side. One big camel came into the track, and I had to avoid it, but ended up crashing after going across a lot of bumps and camel grass.

“That was my very first crash of this Dakar. After that I eased off a bit and (fellow KTM rider) Kevin Benavides caught up with me and we rode together towards the finish. After catching a few more riders we came across a waypoint that didn’t validate for everyone – I lost some time there.

“The last 60 kilometres were all dunes and so I was very careful there to make sure I didn’t hurt my ankle. So, it’s been an interesting and tough day, but I have really enjoyed it.”

Photo courtesy KTM

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