Sanders joins KTM Rally Team
Daniel ‘Chucky’ Sanders has joined the Red Bull KTM Factory Team and will line up with the multiple Dakar winning and FIM Cross-Country Rally World Championship team for the first time at October’s Andalucia Rally.
Replacing Luciano Benavides in the Red Bull KTM Factory Team, Sanders will line up alongside fellow Aussie Toby Price, as well as Sam Sunderland and Matthias Walkner - all of whom are past Dakar winners and will share their vast experience in cross-country rally raid riding with the Aussie rallying rookie.
The 26-year-old brings experience of his own, though, including a season in EnduroGP with KTM Factory Racing in 2017, plus the International Six Day Enduro, where he scored individual class wins in 2015 and 2016, the ISDE E3/Outright Championship in 2019 and was part of Australia’s World Trophy-winning ISDE teams in 2014 and 2018.
Domestically, Sanders is a multiple AORC champion, winning the U19/EJ title in 2014, followed by the E3 and Outright title in 2016, E2 title in 2018, and E3 title again in both 2019 and this year’s COVID-interrupted season. Sanders was also an A4DE runner-up in 2015, E3 class champion in 2016, E2 class winner in 2018 and won the demanding Hattah Desert Race in 2018 – an event previously won by Price.
It was last year’s outright ISDE win that put Sanders on the radar of international teams, with the Victorian saying he had several options come his way from Europe and the USA. Despite the impact of COVID-19, especially for Victoria-based Sanders, the deal that led to the Red Bull KTM Factory Team ride started to be hammered out back in May, helped by long-term mentor and former racer Ben Grabham.
While still keen to return to the ISDE in the future, Sanders says he’s been drawn to longer races and the “endurance” side of enduro competition for some time, which made the step into cross-country rallying a perfect fit.
“I’m really excited to join the KTM Factory Racing team and start my rally career. I have to admit it’s something I have always wanted to do but was perhaps planning to get into it a little later,” Sanders said.
“As it stands, with the current worldwide pandemic, there’s not that much racing going on, so when this opportunity came up to join the rally team, I grabbed it with both hands!”
Sanders flew to Europe in September to begin training and familiarization with the KTM 450 Rally bike – which he’d never ridden before joining the team – under the eye of team manager Jordi Villadoms.
“I’ve had a few days on the bike so far and some time getting to grips with the road book and I think it’s gone pretty well. The bike is great and handles so well, it’s really stable at speed.
“I know I have a lot of knowledge to gain but Jordi and the rest of the team have been great. I feel like I’ve fitted in really easily and it’s obvious that everyone works really hard for a common goal.”
Sanders’s results in the Andalucia Rally this 6-10 October will determine if he qualifies for a 2021 Dakar entry.
