Australian biker Sanders stretches lead at Dakar Rally

AL DUWADIMI, Saudi Arabia: Daniel Sanders underlined his dominance on the bikes at the Dakar Rally with victory in Sunday´s seventh stage in Saudi Arabia, his fifth win of this year´s race.

The 30-year-old Australian completed the 412km special stage around Al Duwadimi on his KTM in 4 hours 10 minutes 33 seconds, finishing 3min 36sec ahead of 19-year-old Spaniard Edgar Canet.

“Technical at the start, we had a lot of rain but it was only at the start. So it was a pretty wet line to see in front and just had us kind of correct and not following mistakes with the navigation. “The speed was good, head was good, so it was a much better day.” Sanders now leads the provisional standings by 15min 33sec from Spaniard Tosha Schareina (Honda) who finished the day in third place, a further 9sec behind Canet.