Former MotoGP star Danilo Petrucci finished the first day proper of this yer’s Dakar in 13th place as stablemate Daniel Sanders took top honours.
Faring well during his first ever Dakar Rally special stage, Petrucci was able to benefit from his starting position of 33rd and follow the tracks ahead of him, ending end the stage 13th fastest.
Arriving at the troublesome waypoints after the leading riders, the Italian was able to avoid issues and went on to enjoy a positive result on his Red Bull KTM.
“I’m really, really happy to finish my first real Dakar stage. I was so nervous at the start. Generally, all went ok for me but the 120 kilometers after the refueling seemed really, really long for me, especially with the big dunes,” said the biug Italian.
GasGas’s Sanders just had to hold his own today — veasier said than done, even from the advantageous starting position that he had earned with yesterday’s tour de force.
The man from Down Under logically decided to start in 15th place and make full use of the benefits of the new Dakar regulations. He surged past the 14 riders ahead of him to cross the finish line of the special in first place.
| 1 | 4 |
(aus) DANIEL SANDERS | GASGAS FACTORY RACING | 04h 38' 40'' | ||
| 2 |
7 | (chl) PABLO QUINTANILLA | MONSTER ENERGY HONDA | 04h 41' 47'' |
+ 00h 03' 07'' | |
| 3 | 52 | (aut) MATTHIAS WALKNER | RED BULL KTM FACTORY RACING | 04h 49' 46'' | + 00h 11' 06'' | |
| 4 | 42 | (fra) ADRIEN VAN BEVEREN | MONSTER ENERGY YAMAHA RALLY TEAM | 04h 51' 26'' | + 00h 12' 46'' | |
| 5 | 43 | (usa) MASON KLEIN | BAS DAKAR KTM RACING TEAM | 04h 53' 14'' | + 00h 14' 34'' | |
| 6 | 3 | (gbr) SAM SUNDERLAND | GASGAS FACTORY RACING | 04h 54' 36'' | + 00h 15' 56'' | |
| 7 | 15 | (esp) LORENZO SANTOLINO | SHERCO TVS RALLY FACTORY | 04h 55' 34'' | + 00h 16' 54'' | |
| 8 | 12 | (fra) XAVIER DE SOULTRAIT | HT RALLY RAID HUSQVARNA RACING | 04h 57' 16'' | + 00h 18' 36'' | |
| 9 | 16 | (bwa) ROSS BRANCH | MONSTER ENERGY YAMAHA RALLY TEAM | 04h 58' 01'' | + 00h 19' 21'' | |
| 10 | 5 | (usa) SKYLER HOWES | HUSQVARNA FACTORY RACING | 05h 03' 52'' | + 00h 25' 12'' | |
| 11 | 6 | (zaf) AARON MARE | HERO MOTOSPORTS TEAM RALLY | 05h 06' 13'' | + 00h 27' 33'' | |
| 12 | 142 | (svk) STEFAN SVITKO | SLOVNAFT RALLY TEAM | 05h 07' 16'' | + 00h 28' 36'' | |
| 13 | 90 | (ita) DANILO PETRUCCI | TECH 3 KTM FACTORY RACING | 05h 12' 09'' | + 00h 33' 29'' | |
| 14 | 1 | (arg) KEVIN BENAVIDES | RED BULL KTM FACTORY RACING | 05h 15' 02'' | + 00h 36' 22'' | |
| 15 | 30 | (prt) ANTONIO MAIO | FRANCO SPORT YAMAHA RACING TEAM | 05h 15' 30'' | + 00h 36' 50'' | |
| 16 | 54 | (bol) DANIEL NOSIGLIA JAGER | RIEJU - FN SPEED TEAM | 05h 16' 52'' | + 00h 38' 12'' | |
| 17 | 88 | (esp) JOAN BARREDA BORT | MONSTER ENERGY HONDA | 05h 20' 34'' | + 00h 41' 54'' | |
| 18 | 23 | (cze) JAN BRABEC | STROJRENT RACING | 05h 22' 12'' | + 00h 43' 32'' | |
| 19 | 29 | (usa) ANDREW SHORT | MONSTER ENERGY YAMAHA RALLY TEAM | 05h 24' 06'' | + 00h 45' 26'' | |
| 20 | 36 | (ltu) ARUNAS GELAZNINKAS | ORION DAKAR TEAM | 05h 25' 33'' | + 00h 46' 53'' |
