Summarize

Dakar’s 2025 bike race commenced its regular series of pendulum swings as riders who struggled on Tuesday benefited late starting positions on Wednesday as they took advantage of the previous day’s frontrunners suffering the penalty opening the road. Overall leader Daniel Sanders took the day for KTM ahead of Honda man Tosha Schareina and Hero rider José Ignacio Cornejo Hero. 

Botswana hero rider Ross branch held onto third overall despite languishing in tenth on the day, but ahead of Ricky Brabec, Kevin Benavides and Skyler Howes. Those four riders however gain the advantage with the shoe on the other foot Thursday morning when the Wednesday winners suffer the pain of opening the road.  South Africans Bradley Cox had a good run to seventh on the day, while Rally 2 man Michael Docherty lost a little time but remains third in class.

The Dakar focus also shifted to endurance for the first half of the marathon stage on Wednesday. With overnight service limited to just 30 minutes for riders to work on their Rally GP and an hour for Rally 2 machines, self-preservation was the order of the day on a route that started in volcanic terrain before tackling the canyons of Al Ula en route to the remote overnight bivouac. Leader Sanders’ KTM, Honda men Tosha Schareina and Adrien van Beveren's bad luck, and South Africa’s leading privateer Cox plummeting down the order after collecting a six minute speeding penalty on Tuesday, promised to play into their hands, as they started well back on Wednesday. 

It was however American Mason Klein who started way back in 45th on his exotic Kove 450 who led Sanders, Schareina, surprise Rally 2 1-2 Bruno Santos and Dusan Dradj, Cox and SA R2 hero Michael Docherty in the early running. Klein and Sanders then swapped the lead for the next hundred kilometres with Schareina in the mix and Branch up to fourth from Rui Gonçalves’ Sherco and Honda rider Skyler Howes.

Branch however lost some 20 minutes in the penultimate sector before Sanders powered ahead in the final part to win and open up his overall lead. Schareina rode home 15 seconds adrift in second, while Cornejo popped up in third from van Beveren, Gonçalves, Rally 2 winner Tobias Ebster and Cox. Branch was not alone in losing time up front en route to eleventh. He still led Benavides, Brabec, Howes and Tuesday winner Santolino’s Sherco, while SA Rally 2 hero Mike Docherty also lost half an hour. 

The upshot is that Daniel Sanders’ KTM now leads Tosha Schareina’s Honda by 13 minutes with Ross Branch third on his Hero, a similar gap behind. Howes, Brabec and van Beveren follow, with Cox tenth, Rally 2 leader Canet 11th and Docherty third in Rally 2 in 16th. Compatriot Arron Mare is 26th, while Dwain Barnard was 60th and Willem Avenant 105th. The swings and roundabouts of the Dakar bike race now see the riders that suffered on Wednesday, in a strong starting position on Thursday’s 428 km run to Hail, deep in the Saudi desert.