Sanders fastest on opening day of Dakar 48 Hour Chrono

2025 Dakar Rally

Stage 2 Chrono Part 2a – BISHA > BISHA

The colossal challenge of Dakar’s 48-Hour Chrono stage kicked off on Sunday with nearly 1000km of riding facing competitors over two days. On Sunday riders pushed hard to cover as much of the huge distance as they could before the clock struck 1700 to signal the end of the day.

Last year’s version of the tough endurance stage took part in the spectacular dunes of Saudi Arabia’s Empty Quarter, but for 2025, riders made their way north out of Bisha to face a mix of dirt tracks, sand and a first taste of the big dunes on this year’s Dakar.  Riders complete the 48-Hour Chrono without any support and the standings only to be officially confirmed on completion of the second half of the stage on Monday. Thus what we present as the current state of play further below should be seen as strictly provisional.

The three strongest riders continued to prove their mettle, Daniel Sanders winner of the prologue and stage one, finished comfortably ahead of Ricky Brabec and Ross Branch. The Australian spending the night in camp E along with the rest of the top five, where he holds a provisional virtual overall lead of 4′02″ over the American and 5′59″ over the Botswanan. Tosha Schareina, 8′17″ back, is the fourth man to watch, followed by Skyler Howes.

Thanks to his stage one victory, Sanders was awarded a beneficial start position as the last RallyGP rider to set off from Bisha. Venturing into Saudi Arabia’s Empty Quarter, Sanders immediately set about chasing down his competitors and took the lead by the second checkpoint.

After 320 kilometres and nearly four hours of racing, ‘Chucky’ caught up to the group opening the stage and began to rack up precious time bonuses. Reaching the penultimate rest stop at 5:00 pm, 617 kilometres into the demanding special, the Australian holds both the provisional stage and overall rally leads.

Ricky Brabec kept his cool to keep within touching distance of the virtual leader Sanders throughout the day as he reduced a two minute deficit down to just 40-seconds at the 617 km break zone. Brabec also acquired time bonuses riding out at the front so it was a good competitive day for the reigning Dakar champion as these will be factored into the final stage times tomorrow at the conclusion of the huge test.

Heros’s Ross Branch finished third for the day, almost four-minutes off the lead, building on his third-place finish in stage one and resulting third place overall.

Despite a brief moment getting stuck in the dramatic dunes, Tosha Schareina kept himself in the mix in fourth with nearly five-minutes in bonuses in his pocket. As the first rider to get to the bivouac he will have the tricky task of opening the way when the action resumes. Sitting in fifth, Skyler Howes has also obtained some time bonuses on this leg and continues his consistent start to this year’s Dakar Rally as the bikes stopped for the night.

Pablo Quintanilla was looking to bounce back with a different set up on his Honda CRF450 RALLY and that he did as by the time he reached the small bivouac he’d had a much more positive day in the saddle with his sixth position showing he’d well and truly got to grips with the terrain.

Rally2 challenger Edgar Canet continued his strong run of form, fighting for the class lead for nearly eight hours. Canet pushed hard from the start while ensuring he didn’t make any navigational mistakes on the demanding terrain and joined team-mates Daniel and Luciano at Break Point E at 5pm. The young Spaniard lies second in Rally2 and seventh overall at the halfway point of the stage.

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After his heroic effort to get to the end of the stage after a crash early on stage one, and then issues with the road book push button, Adrien Van Beveren was back in his stride with navigation and speed over the sand, taking nearly seven minutes of precious time bonuses as he sits in eighth.

Luciano Benavides made a strong start to the two-day stage, registering the fifth-fastest time at the first checkpoint. Facing the first dunes of this year’s event, Luciano rose to the challenge and remained focused on his roadbook while maintaining a strong pace to end the day in ninth place.

Proving his consistency and experience, Kevin Benavides ended the day at Break Point D, just one stop behind his team-mates, the Argentinian in 26th at the midway point of the stage.

Andreas Hölzl – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Rally Team Manager

“It was a really long stage today, and it was tough with a lot of dunes but finally the guys made it to the rest stops. Sanders is doing really well and Edgar has done a great job too without any mistakes today. Luciano is on track for a great result and Kevin is still in the game. We’re looking forward to finishing the stage tomorrow!”

Ruben Faria – Monster Energy Honda HRC General Manager

“The first day of the 48 Hour Chrono is now over, but it was a really tough first day with more than 600 km to ride but I think the Monster Energy Honda HRC riders are in a really good position. We have two riders that will start in the first two positions tomorrow with three riders further back so that means we can do two different strategies. At this moment I don’t know what is the best one but I believe that with Tosha and Ricky starting first and second, as long as they don’t make any mistakes, with the time bonuses they can do a good stage. We will have to wait until tomorrow afternoon to find out where they all finish.”

2025 Dakar Rally, Stage 2a Provisional Top Five

1. Daniel Sanders (AUS), KTM, Break Point E, 7:41:56
2. Ricky Brabec (USA), Honda, Break Point E, 7:42:36 +0:40
3. Ross Branch (BWA), Hero, Break Point E, 7:45:47 +3:51
4. Tosha Schareina (ESP), Honda, Break Point E, 7:47:05 +5:09
5. Skyler Howes (USA), Honda, Break Point E, 7:50:34 +8:38

Toby Price and Sam Sunderland matched the front-runners in their Hilux, the two former motorcycle Dakar champs eyeing a spot in the top five overall in Bisha tomorrow.

Tomorrow – Stage Two B

With the clock stopped, even riders who made it to bivouac E at the 617km break zone, will not really know where they stand relative to each other in the classification, and now open their food rations and spend a night sleeping under the stars.

With no service from the main team of mechanics who are hundreds of kilometres away, it’s down to the skill of the riders to maintain their bikes with whatever they’re carrying with them or from fellow competitors.

Everyone will spend the evening recovering from a long day in the saddle, swapping stories with other competitors around camp fires, as the original spirit of the Dakar in Africa is recreated before they’re back into top gear at the crack of dawn on Monday to complete the 48 Hour Chrono for 2025.

2025 Dakar Rally Standings
!Provisional!

Official Rankings will not be calculated until after Monday’s second half of the 48H Chrono stage

2025 Dakar Rally Route/Schedule