Image: John Pearson.

Husqvarna Enduro Racing Team’s Daniel Sanders dominated the 2018 Penrite Hattah Desert Race on Sunday, converting his pole position to a controlled victory.

Sanders, who had finished runner-up for the past two years, lodged a flying 2m36.256s lap-time of the Prologue course to seal P1 in qualifying, which set the scene for what was to come on race-day near Mildura, Victoria.

With a fastest lap of 29m31.044s, Sanders rode his factory Husqvarna FE 501 to an advantage of 1m06.175s at the conclusion of eight laps in a total time of 4h15m22.802s, topping former winner Josh Green (Active8 Yamaha) on his WR450F.

It was a brilliant performance that enabled Sanders to cruise home on the final lap to the outright and Over 450cc Four-Stroke class victories in dry, dusty conditions that resulted in unrelenting square-edged bumps as the race wore on.

Behind Green and in third position for the second-straight year, Lyndon Snodgrass (KTM Enduro Racing Team) finished third in an inspired effort aboard his factory KTM 500 EXC-F.

Last year’s winner Daniel Milner qualified second with a scintillating lap-time of 2m37.065s, only 0.809s from the pole lap. Race-day didn’t go as smoothly for him on-board his KTM 500 EXC-F though, a damaged start switch costing him around eight minutes after running second in the early laps.

The team swiftly diagnosed and rectified the problem to get Milner back on track as soon as possible, enabling him to charge back through the field to fourth place in a gritty ride. Rounding out the top five overall was Sherco-mounted Nathan Trigg.

Detailed results