Image: Danny Wilkinson.

This weekend’s Penrite Hattah Desert Race is one of the must-win outings on the national calendar for Husqvarna Enduro Racing Team’s Daniel Sanders, eager to make gains in Mildura after finishing second for the past two years.

Sanders has finished second outright at Hattah for the past two years running, establishing himself as one of the pre-race favourites aboard the thundering Husqvarna FE 501. He steps up from the FE 450 he usually pilots off-road.

“I’m excited going into Hattah with the Husqvarna team and I’ve been putting in a lot of time training with Fraser [Higlett], so it’s all looking good,” Sanders said. “We are as well prepared as we can be going in after working really hard on the engine and suspension tuning, which adds to the confidence.

“This is the one event on the calendar that I really wanted to win this year and after finishing second two years in a row, I’ve dug deep and put a lot of effort in. There are a lot of people behind me who have worked hard too, so I really want to do it for both myself and the team around me.

“The Husqvarna FE 501 is the way to go, you need all the ‘ponies’ you can get in a race like this, so it’s a really strong package and I feel like we have a point to prove out there this year.”

Hattah this weekend marks Sanders’ first appearance with Husqvarna in the prestigious desert event, previously forming part of the all-conquering KTM team alongside reigning champion Daniel Milner. Both will enter with the hopes of claiming outright honours ahead of Saturday’s Prologue, with the main event taking off from 9:00am on Sunday.