Last champion Sam Sunderland says goodbye to the Dakar Rally

At the 45th Dakar Rally held in Saudi Arabia, reigning British motorcycling champion Sam Sunderland had to retire from the Dakar Rally after crashing in first place on Sunday morning.

In the organization’s statement it is revealed that the GasGas Sunderland driver fell at kilometer 52 of the stage, injured his back and said goodbye to the Dakar Rally.

Sunderland is the second driver to be left out of the Dakar this year, after the Spanish Eduardo Iglesias.

FIRST STAGE COMPLETED

The first phase of the 45th Dakar Rally held in Saudi Arabia at the 367 kilometer long Sea Camp on the Red Sea coast has been completed.

The 2010, 2018 and 2020 champion of the Audi Sport team, the Spanish Carlos Sainz, with a time of 3 hours 28 minutes 55 seconds in the general classification, took first place in the car category.

Frenchman Sebastien Loeb, who has won the World Rally Championship (WRC) 9 times before, finished second in the overall standings, 10 seconds behind Sainz. Mattias Ekström, the Swedish driver of the Audi Sport team, 33 seconds behind the leader, took third place in the general classification.

SANDERS FINISHED FIRST IN THE OVERALL CLASSIFICATION

In the motorcycle category, Australian Daniel Sanders of the Red Bull GasGas factory team took first place in the general classification after finishing the first stage in 4 hours 12 minutes 55 seconds.

The Australian pilot was followed by the Spanish Joan Barreda Bort, 1 minute behind the general classification, and the American Ricky Brabec, 1 minute and 15 seconds behind.

The second stage of the Dakar Rally will take place tomorrow on the 430-kilometre route between Sea Camp and Alula. The 14-stage Dakar Rally will conclude on January 15 in Dammam, on the country’s east coast. (AA)