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British rider Sam Sunderland back in front of Dakar 2022The GasGas factory’s newest recruit is back on top of the standings in this year’s Dakar Rally after an impressive ride on stage eight.

Rolling with the punches and bouncing back in style after a difficult previous stage, Britain’s Sam Sunderland has arguably delivered his best performance of the Dakar Rally so far with victory on a seriously tough stage eight.

It’s remarkable that this was his first stage win of the 2022 rally, and his first for GASGAS Factory Racing, with the Brit’s impressive ride seeing him return to the top of the provisional overall classification.

Meanwhiloe, Chilean rider Pablo Quintanilla (Honda) finished runner-up at the finish-line in Wadi Ad-Dawasir, clawing back time and setting up the chance of making the top step of the final podium, while second-placed rider overall Matthias Walkner (KTM), from Austria, was third.

Quintanilla reached the bivouac less than three minutes behind Sunderland.

“That was a really challenging stage today,” said Sutherland afterwards.

“There was a lot of sand early on but then near the end there were a lot of canyons to navigate through.

“You had to be really patient and choose the right one as it would be so easy to get lost and lose time. The guys opening, fortunately, did a great job, which made things a little easier for me, but, after leading out yesterday, I know how tough that can be.

“Early on I was pushing hard and I was a bit too aggressive with a few small crashes in the sand so I had to settle down a bit, get into a rhythm, and it paid off as I was able to take the stage win.

“We have some long days ahead, but today’s result is just what I needed.”

Undoubtedly, Sunderland’s determination and his ability to keep on keeping on, even when faced with ongoing Dakar challenges, is a huge reason he has returned to the top of the leader-board.

Relieved after taking his first win of the rally, he will be back in the hot seat the next day as the rider that has the unenviable task of opening the stage.

Armed with his superior navigation skills, and a winner’s mindset, Sunderland will be first into a stage that will feature very little in the way of sand, yet a lot of rocky terrain, as he completes what might prove to be one of the pivotal stages of the 2022 Dakar Rally.

The Dakar Rally heads into its final stretch with the lengthiest stage of this edition, at 830km, coming up and the mileage count takes a hefty leap forward.

On the agenda is 395 kilometres of special stage across the southern part of Saudi Arabia, with plenty of sand and a lot of dunes to be tackled.

Photo courtesy GasGas

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Results Stage 8:

 

Pos.

 Rider Num Nation Team Constructor Time/Gap
1 Sunderland Sam 3 GBR Gas Gas Factory Team Gas Gas 03:48’02
2 Quintanilla Pablo 7 CHI Monster Energy Honda Team Honda +00:02’53
3 Walkner Matthias 52 AUT Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team KTM +00:04’11
4 Brabec Ricky 2 USA Monster Energy Honda Team Honda +00:06’44
5 Price Toby 18 AUS Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team KTM +00:08’39
6 Benavides Luciano 77 ARG Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing Husqvarna +00:09’32
7 Rodrigues Joaquim 27 POR Hero Motorsports Team Rally Hero +00:09’58
8 Van Beveren Adrien 42 FRA Monster Energy Yamaha Rally Team Yamaha +00:10’21
9 Barreda Joan 88 SPA Monster Energy Honda Team Honda +00:11’43
10 Svitko Stefan 142 SLO Slovnaft Rally Team KTM +00:12’11
11 Short Andrew 29 USA Monster Energy Yamaha Rally Team Yamaha +00:14’22
12 Benavides Kevin 1 ARG Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team KTM +00:15’02
13 Gonçalves Rui 19 POR Sherco TVS Rally Factory Sherco +00:15’15
14 Cornejo José Ignacio 11 CHI Monster Energy Honda Team Honda +00:17’22
15 Michek Martin 10 CZE Orion Moto Racing Group KTM +00:19’26

Rider Standings

Provisional Standings after Stage 8:

 

Pos.

 Rider Num Nation Team Constructor Time/Gap
1 Sunderland Sam 3 GBR Gas Gas Factory Team Gas Gas 27:38’42
2 Walkner Matthias 52 AUT Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team KTM +00:03’45
3 Van Beveren Adrien 42 FRA Monster Energy Yamaha Rally Team Yamaha +00:04’43
4 Quintanilla Pablo 7 CHI Monster Energy Honda Team Honda +00:05’30
5 Barreda Joan 88 SPA Monster Energy Honda Team Honda +00:14’38
6 Benavides Kevin 1 ARG Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team KTM +00:14’47
7 Santolino Lorenzo 15 SPA Sherco TVS Rally Factory Sherco +00:21’09
8 Svitko Stefan 142 SLO Slovnaft Rally Team KTM +00:26’51
9 Price Toby 18 AUS Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team KTM +00:32’30
10 Short Andrew 29 USA Monster Energy Yamaha Rally Team Yamaha +00:36’54
11 Cornejo José Ignacio 11 CHI Monster Energy Honda Team Honda +00:38’21
12 Brabec Ricky 2 USA Monster Energy Honda Team Honda +00:39’58

 

 

 

 

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