The 2022 Dakar Rally woke up after the rest day and chose violence.
The 2022 Dakar Rally entered stage 7 after the "day without a race" rest day, and it didn't take long for the drama to unfold.
Daniel "Chucky" Sanders crashed violently seven kilometers from the start of the morning's liason, injuring his elbow severely and ending his Dakar hopes for 2022. The forceful Australian was confidently charging into the front of the race day after day, but a very harsh accident today ended it all.
We talk with Jordi Villadoms from the KTM Group effort about the crash.
Monster Energy Honda's Nacho Cornejo was the big winner today taking his first stage win of the year, and bringing a bright spot to the Honda camp as the rally enters the second week. Likewise, Joan Barreda came out firing today, ignoring a painful injured shoulder to finish high in the standings. Ricky Brabec and Pablo Quintanilla raced to the front of the pack, and navigated well together today to finish the stage out front, physically, finishing seventh and 11th, respectively on the day.
We hear from Ricky Brabec about the day.
Other racers lost significant time today on the stage, and we have a new overall leader as Monster Energy Yamaha's Adrien Van Beveren took the reigns at the front of the general classification after a successful day. previous days' leader Sam Sunderland (GasGas) and Red Bull KTM's Matthias Walkner lost big time today in the stage, but still sit comfortably in the top five of the overall.
Don't miss today's show as we get back to racing at the 2022 Dakar Rally!