The return journey to Bisha to complete the 48 HR Chrono expedition to the northeast of the city required passing through a 90-kilometre portion of grey dunes which may have given some of the competitors grey hairs. The cars and trucks then made their way through sumptuous canyons, where the narrow tracks allowed Lithuanian Rokas Baciuška to express his agility. In the bike race, the finish took place on a sequence of high plateaus and portions of dunes without any specific difficulties, on which Daniel Sanders, who was the 7ᵗʰ rider to set off this morning, opened the throttle to catch his rivals and pick up a third consecutive victory on the Dakar 2025.
Daniel Sanders, winner of the prologue and the rally’s first two stages, passed the major test of the 48 HR Chrono stage with flying colours. However, he only slightly improved his advantage in the general rankings and now has a lead of 12’36’’ over Skyler Howes, and 12’40’’ over Ross Branch, who completes the provisional podium.
The forefront of the bike race still has a strong red tint to it, with the Hondas of Howes, Schareina (4th), Brabec (5th) and Van Beveren (6th) present in the top six.
Yazeed Al Rajhi, who lost out big time on the 48 HR Chrono stage in 2024, thought he had achieved the best accumulated time over the two days, but it was in fact Rokas Baciuška, recredited time lost after faulty refuelling, who won for the first time in his very youthful career at the age of 25 years. However, this did not prevent the Saudi driver from once again battling at the forefront of the rally. Henk Lategan, after shining on the prologue, also had a good day and took command of the general rankings thanks to his 2nd place finish. Nasser Al Attiyah is still ready to pounce despite a 4-minute penalty for speeding, and currently occupies third position in the race hierarchy.
The stage around Bisha proved difficult for Sébastien Loeb, who regained time on the second day but nevertheless trails the leader by 13’08’’, and especially Carlos Sainz, who dropped down the rankings by 1 hour and 28 minutes due to rolling his car onto its roof during stage 2A and this accident’s ensuing consequences. He was 1 hour 28 minutes behind at the finishing line, but a deformed roll bar forced him to prematurely exit the Dakar.
He was not among the prominent favourites in the category, but Dutchman Paul Spierings surprised everybody on the 48 HR Chrono stage, starting with Nicolás Cavigliasso, who was deprived of a stage victory by just 2 seconds, yet who has retained his position as general rankings leader.
The Polaris are establishing their domination over the beginning of this Dakar in the SSV category, with a stage won by Brock Heger in addition to his success on the prologue and Xavier de Soultrait’s victory on the first stage. The two men currently occupy the first two places in the general rankings, with the Frenchman in the lead, boasting a lead of already more than one hour over third placed Alexandre Pinto.
A trio of pretenders for the crown emerged on the 48 HR Chrono stage, made up of Martin Macík, Aleš Loprais and Vaidotas Žala who finished the largest chunk against the clock of this first week in this order. In particular, they have opened a gap over Mitchel van den Brink, who trails by 1 hour and 16 minutes in 4th place in the general rankings.
Performance of the day
Unexpected developments are somewhat of a speciality for Rokas Baciuška, who notably experienced the bitter sting of seeing Eryk Goczał take advantage of his mechanical problems the day before the finish of the 2023 edition, in which he dominated the SSV category until the last stage. This year, following three consecutive W2RC titles, the Lithuanian driver is tackling his biggest challenge so far by taking starter’s orders in the Ultimate class, a logical follow-up in the emergence of his talent. However, in the very first stage, his enthusiasm pushed him into making a mistake and especially veering off the tracks, resulting in a rear wheel being torn off his Hilux. The young man, who everybody agrees bears more than a passing resemblance to Harry Potter, did not lose heart and took advantage of his starting position in 38th place on the 48 HR Chrono to hit the turbo on his four-wheeled ‘firebolt’. After two days and almost 1,000 kilometres, he picked up a stage victory in the queen category, confirming a major trend on the 47th edition of the Dakar: the rally’s roll of honour has witnessed the inscription of the names of Seth Quintero (22 years old), Saood Variawa (19 years old), Corbin Leavertone (24 years old) and Mitchel van den Brink (23 years old). At the age of 25 years, Baciuška, who could almost have been the youngest winner in the history of the category, could already claim the status of a big brother figure!
A crushing blow
Though he is more used to leaving his rivals trailing in his dust rather than biting it himself, four times Dakar winner and title holder Carlos Sainz came a cropper yesterday after 327 km, rolling his car onto its roof. ‘El Matador’ emerged from this mishap somewhat ruffled (especially his machine) but not ready to give up. With a Ford Raptor in minimalist format, missing the majority of its bodywork elements as well as its windshield, the Sainz-Cruz duo threw themselves back into the remaining 640 km to be covered. On arrival in Bisha, the Spaniard trailed the new leader of the Dakar by 1 hour 35 minutes and was forced to accept that it was time to surrender his crown. After inspection of his pick-up by his M-Sport team, it became apparent that it was no longer in a state to ensure his safety during the race. Following the premature exit from the race by Laia Sanz the day before yesterday after a double roll, Cristina Gutiérrez and Nani Roma were forced to exit the special today. The latter two competitors will resume the rally with penalties of 48 and 52 hours respectively, but Spanish hopes on the Dakar have received a dagger in the heart. The Spanish supporter’s pain could be eased by examining King Carlos’ statistics and clinging to the saying “things come in threes”: the last two times that Sainz had to leave the Dakar before its completion, he triumphed on his return, notably in 2022 with Peugeot and in 2024 with Audi. For Spain’s rally enthusiasts, 2026 cannot come quick enough…
Source: A.S.O.
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