Image: Supplied.

GasGas Factory Racing rider Daniel Sanders continued his early form in the first stage of the 2022 Dakar Rally, again recording the fastest time on Sunday.

After setting a blistering time and winning the prologue, Sanders opted to enter stage one in 15th position and chase down the riders ahead.

The Australian’s game plan worked perfectly, with the GasGas RC 450F Rally racer winning the special by over three minutes to maintain his place at the top of the overall provisional classification.

“So far things are shaping up really good,” Sanders said. “After winning the Prologue yesterday I got to choose my starting position and opted to start in 15th and then focus on chasing after the guys up front.

“There was some tricky navigation near the end of the special, but I kept cool, avoided any huge errors and then l lead the stage to the end.

“This was great for me as it made sure I focused on my roadbook and as I’ll lead out tomorrow – it was good to get a little experience of riding alone up front. I’m excited for tomorrow and looking forward to the challenge ahead.”

Sanders topped the stage in 4h38m30s ahead of Pablo Quintanilla (Monster Energy Honda) and Matthias Walker (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), as Toby Price (Red Bull KTM) was 22nd following navigation issues and Andrew Houlihan (KTM) ranked 117th.

Detailed results