Daniel Sanders wins 2023 Sonora Rally

Australia’s Daniel ‘Chucky’ Sanders has achieved his first victory in the FIM World Rally-Raid Championship, taking the win for Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing at the Sonora Rally in Mexico. Prior to this, the 28-year-old’s best finish in rally-raid had been a third at the Rallye du Maroc in 2021.

Sanders came to the Sonora Rally, Round 3 of the 2023 FIM World Rally-Raid Championship, fit and firing after his Dakar campaign was interrupted by illness and he sat out Round 2 (the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge) with injury.

In the challenging desert terrain of north-western Mexico, Sanders completed the Prologue in tenth place on his GasGas RX 450F, then improved on the opening day’s 170km stage to finish second, just six seconds adrift of the leader. The next day, the young Victorian went even better, winning the day’s 286km stage and taking the overall lead.

A second win on Day 3’s 350km stage saw the Aussie extend his lead in the overall to almost seven minutes, and while he wasn’t able to make it three stage wins in a row on Day 4 due to navigational errors, fourth place on the stage saw Sanders retain his overall lead by more than six minutes.

For the fifth and final day of the Sonora Rally (and with the benefit of not having to open the stage), Sanders was in the lead by kilometre 39 of the day’s 139km stage and would comfortably hold that lead to take the win – and his first-ever outright WRRC victory.

“It’s great to get my first rally win!” Sanders enthused. “It feels like it’s been a long time coming.

“I’ve had some bad luck with speed penalties and things like that in some events, so to finally get a world championship win means a lot to me. Also, I feel like I’ve ridden well this event, leading out on several days, and generally having a good run through the event.

“I’m improving still, and thanks to the team who always give me a great bike, I feel like things are really coming together now.”

Sanders’s win moves him to fifth overall in the WRRC standings, with 39 points after three rounds. Fellow Aussie, Toby Price (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), leads the championship with 62 points, ahead of Luciano Benavides (Husqvarna Factory Racing) on 55 points, Adrien van Beveren (Monster Energy Honda Team) on 53 points and Kevin Benavides (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) with 43 points.

The next WRRC round, the Desafio Ruta 40 in Argentina, is scheduled for 26 August to 1 September.