Sanders extends Dakar lead with Stage 2b 48H Chrono win

2025 Dakar Rally

Stage 2 Chrono Part 2b – BISHA > BISHA

The return journey to Bisha to complete the 48 HR Chrono expedition to the northeast of the city required passing through a 90-kilometre portion of grey dunes which may have given some of the competitors grey hairs. Riders made their way through sumptuous canyons followed by a sequence of high plateaus and dunes on Monday to complete the Chrono.

Daniel Sanders was the seventh rider to set off on Monday morning after a cold night in a tent, quickly catching his rivals and going on to pick up a third consecutive victory at the Dakar Rally 2025, improving his lead in the overall standings to 12m36s.

Sanders started the stage seven-minutes after Tosha Schareina, and caught up with the riders opening the way to keep a watchful eye on the competition before taking another victory. Such a hat-trick has not been witnessed in the bike category since 2017, when Joan Barreda won stages 8, 10 and 11 (9 was cancelled). However Barreda was not in the fight for outright triumph in the general rankings at the time.  Sanders will lead the field away on Tuesday which will be a test for his navigation skills.

The forefront of the bike race still has a strong red tint to it, with the Hondas of Howes, Schareina (4th), Brabec (5th) and Van Beveren (6th) present in the top six. Ross Branch the sole Hero rider, apart from Sander’s KTM, to break the Honda ranks.

Having caught up with the riders ahead of him and assisted in opening the route, Sander’s gained time bonuses for nearly 150 kilometres, navigating the tough special to complete the two-day stage nearly seven-minutes faster than anyone else.

Daniel Sanders – P1

“It got pretty tough in the soft dunes, especially when I was up front opening the way and putting the first line in. Managing the dust was also a huge part of it, so we were all fighting up front for the opening bonuses, but it’s cool to be riding alongside the others. My body feels great, though, and it’s nice to have a bit of a shorter day today to recover. I’m really happy with my performance so far and we’ll see what happens tomorrow when I have to open the stage!”

Skyler Howes had his best stage so far of this 2025 Dakar Rally yet, that saw him not only on the stage podium in second place but also leap up to second overall with just 12’36” separating him from current rally leader Sanders.

Skyler Howes – P2

“The 48 Hour Chrono stage was difficult and very physically demanding as the dunes were really soft, the camel grass was relentless, the rocks, the dust, everything was pretty heavy. We had a good time then we got to camp out in a tent in the desert which was fun, I think I maybe slept for a total of 30 minutes the whole night. I’m pretty smoked ready for a nap but happy to be here and also to be second in the general standings for now. We’re only on the third day so there’s a long road ahead of us but I’m really looking forward to it.”

Despite little sleep overnight, Tosha Schareina made it to the finish line with the third best time as his excellent navigation skills kept him out front to notch up 9’48” in time bonuses, while another who was happy to complete the stage cleanly was Pablo Quintanilla in eighth who spent much of the two day stage riding as part of a group with his teammates.

Tosha Schareina – P3

“We didn’t make any mistakes or have any crashes and that’s super good for the bike and for us. These 48 hours were really, really hard because there were more or less 300km of super soft dunes. I tried to push today after opening the stage, but in the dunes it was tough and so difficult to open. The guys behind caught me and we rode together to the end of the stage. Both days were difficult. There were 300 km of super soft dunes and it was super hard for us, we even got stuck on some dunes three or four times.”

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Van Beveren took the 48 Hour Chrono victory last year and although he was sitting in eighth position heading into Monday, by the time he’d got to the finish line at Bisha he’d accrued 10’28’’ in time bonuses for being first bike on the road and thus making the first tracks across the sand. Although it was a great performance by the Frenchman, a small two-minute time penalty moved him off a potential stage podium from second and dropped him to fourth.

Adrien Van Beveren – P4

“We’re finally back from the 48 Hour Chrono stage which was totally crazy. I’m really happy about performance, I did a strong, strong stage and I opened most of it. I did a good navigation, the pace was high today and I tried to ride as well as possible, but for sure the guys behind were also pushing. Let’s see what happens over the next few days.”

Hero’s Ross Branch finished Monday’s stage in fifth, trailing the overall lead by 12-minutes and just four-seconds behind second-placed Howes.

Luciano Benavides showed pace in the second leg of the two-day stage, clocking the fourth-fastest time at the 800-kilometre mark, steering his KTM 450 RALLY to an eventual sixth-place finish, leaving the Argentinian in sixth overall. Michael Docherty finished the stage seventh behind him, followed by Honda’s Ricky Brabec and Pablo Quintanilla.

Luciano Benavides – P6

“That’s the 48-hour chrono stage done and it was crazy! Yesterday near the start of the special I had a small crash, and I damaged my handlebars, so it made the long distance a bit harder. In the end we all caught up to each other and were riding in a group which was cool and made it a bit easier. I’m feeling really good in myself and on the bike, it’s just the dust which is making things tougher.”

It was a disappointing stage for the 2024 Dakar Rally champion Ricky Brabec. The American had broken his exhaust on Sunday and was unable to ride faster than 130 km/h which hurt him in the open sections. Once he got to the finish line at Bisha he’d dropped from second to eighth in the stage results, which relegated him to fifth overall.

Ricky Brabec – P8

“I like what they did with the 48 Hour Chrono but unfortunately yesterday I smashed my exhaust 150 kilometres into the stage so that slowed me down quite a bit as I was only able to sit at 130 km/h so that was a real big bummer. Then riding with a smashed pipe and a hole in the exhaust, I was a little bit worried about today as I just needed to get here to the finish. I feel like this chrono thing is kind of a waste, all the hard work we did yesterday I think kind of went down the drain, as what happens today is all that matters. I’m happy to be at the bivouac, we’ll look over the bike and then we’ll push to the end and see what we can do, its only stage two so a lot of racing left.”

Pablo Quintanilla – P9

“It was one of the toughest stages I’ve ever ridden. Yesterday we had a lot of off piste sections, I caught up to the riders at the front with Adrien around the 200 km mark and then to the end we were riding as a group. Today I started seventh, we caught the frontrunners after 100 km as we were searching for the waypoint and then we rode together. Honestly the stage was super hard and very dangerous, there was a lot of dust which was crazy. I’m happy to be here and to arrive without any big issues, so now we will rest and prepare for the next stage.”

In a similar story to yesterday’s first leg of the 48-hour chrono stage, teenage debutante Edgar Canet spent the remaining 330 kilometres of timed special fighting for the Rally2 lead. Canet was one of just 21 riders who made it to Break Point E, a huge 617 kilometres into the stage, marking an impressive achievement for the young Spaniard in his debut Dakar Rally.

Remaining focused on his roadbook and pushing hard through the dunes, Edgar ultimately completed the stage in 10th overall with a time that earned him the Rally2 class lead, where he currently enjoys a four-minute advantage.

Edgar Canet – P10

“I’m happy to be at the finish line of that stage! It was a very long one, the longest I’ve ever done. I didn’t crash or get lost, which I’m really happy about too. Now to recover and prepare for the rest of this week.”

Aussie Toby Hederics finished the stage in 30th and sits 29th in the overall standings – two hours off the leading time, while Andrew Houlihan was 117th, pickup up over 17 hours in variation penalties and sitting 114th in the standings.

Ex MotoGP star Danilo Petrucci is competing in the Trucks category but the 34-year-old Italian and his team-mate suffered some dramas on Monday which saw them cop over 15-minutes of penalties. That saw them slip to 12th in the Truck standings.

Toby Price and fellow ex-Dakar motorcycle champion Sam Sunderland made good progress across Stage Two in their Toyota, finishing ninth in the Ultimate four-wheeler category, trailing the leaders by 16m57s. The pair moved up to fourth place in the Ultimate category of four-wheel competition.

Toby Price

“God damn it’s crazy out there up the front, these boys open stages so damn quick! Really happy to finish the 48hr Chrono Stage in 9th, which now puts us in 4th overall. These guys don’t get enough credit for just how gnarly it is out there. Poor Sammy got a couple good whacks but he’s doing an unreal job! Let’s keep improving, step by step!”

Isle of Man TT road race star James Hillier crashed earlier in the event and it is not clear if he will take any further part in proceedings.

(Revised) Stage Three

With the riders now back at the Bisha bivouac there is some time for rest. Tuesday’s third stage has been modified due to stormy weather on the route to Al Henakiyah, the initial 496 km of riding against the clock has now been reduced to 327 km.

2025 Dakar Rally Stage Two (48H Chrono) Results – Top 10

2025 Dakar Rally Standings after Stage Two

Dakar 2025 – 48 Hours Stage Recap with Honda HRC

2025 Dakar Rally Route/Schedule