Summarize

Southern African riders Ross Branch, Bradley Cox and Michael Docherty were all in strong positions when Dakar rode into Ha’il for its Friday rest day on Saturday afternoon. Australian KTM rider Daniel Sanders continues to lead the race after his teammate Luciano Benavides took the Thursday stage when initial winner Adrien van Beveren's Honda and Sanders were penailsed for speeding.

Thursday was a 428 kilometre dirt, gravel and sand mix run from the Marathon Stage overnight at Al Ula to Ha’il, deep in the Saudi desert where competitors will enjoy the well-earned rest day on Friday. As it is at the Dakar with the group that leads the previous evening gaining the disadvantage of opening the road the following day, and those who have opened the previous day gain the advantage the next day, the order up front was once again turned upside down.

Wednesday winner and overnight leader, Aussie Daniel Sanders and his KTM languished in 25th at the first split, where 18th, 33rd and fifteenth starters, American Skyler Howes’ Honda, South African Rally 2 leader Michael Docherty’s KTM and Botswana’s Ross Branch and his Hero Moto led the way. The lead then shuffled between Branch, Californian Ricky Brabec’s Honda and Argentine KTM man Luciano Benavides, who had all started in the second half of the top twenty.

Another Honda rider, Frenchman Adrien van Beveren joined the party up front to soon lead Branch, Brabec and Benavides, with Docherty and class leader Edgar Canet trading blows in front of Rally 2. Leader Sanders meanwhile benefited over three minutes of bonus time to sit only six, rather than ten minutes off the pace in eighth. Up front meantime, Branch nibbled away at van Beveren’s lead as Benavides kept a watching brief and the field headed into the tricky final sector.

Van Beveren made best of that final challenge to hold on to his lead, while Branch struggled and lost a couple of places to Benavides and Chilean Hero teammate José Ignacio Cornejo to come in fourth. Brabec rode home third and Sanders amassed over five minutes of bonus to sneak home sixth on a day where his pace would not have seen him near the top ten. Bracket racing at its best!

South Africans, Docherty rode home a provisional tenth and second behind Canet in Rally 2, Bradley Cox had a reasonable day to end 16h, and Aaron Mare was running 40th after a dreadful end to his day on Wednesday. Dwain Barnard in the top 50 and Willem Avenant 100th.

Then the speeding penalties were handed out and van Beveren was demoted to second behind Benavides and Sanders was hit with  an eight minute sanction to shufflr him out of the top ten. That also saw Sandersoverall lead slashed to just six minutes over Spaniard Tosha Schareina’s Honda and then a splendid spat for third between Branch, who benefited  van Beveren's penalty to jump a place, van Beveren, Skyler Howes’ Honda, Brabec and Benavides.

Cox sits twelfth, and Docherty 14th and third in Rally 2 behind Canet and Tomas Ebster’s similar KTM. Riders will now chill on Friday’s rest day before a monster 605 kilometre run to Al Duwadimi on Saturday. Will that be enough to negate the disadvantage of starting first? Time will tell!