VOLUME 59 ISSUE 2 JANUARY 11, 2022 P33
to take 28th place, with Yamaha's
Adrien van Beveren then taking
over the Rally lead. The French-
man, however, suffered his own
issues on Stage 8, losing nearly
10 minutes to Sunderland to slip
back down the rankings to third
overall, a position he has held for
the majority of the rally.
With Sunderland, Walkner and
van Beveren cementing their status
as the top three with four stages
left to run, it's been rather chaotic
behind them with hot and cold
results from many fancied riders.
Spain's Joan Barreda (Honda)
took Stage 4, his 29th career
win, to move into third overall
in the all-time winner standings
behind French legends Cyril De-
spres and Stephane Peterhansel,
but crashed hard on Stage 5 and
broke his shoulder. Despite this,
the teak-tough Barreda is still in
the Rally and lies fifth at the time
of writing, 14:38 off Sunderland.
The 2022 Dakar would ulti-
mately prove disappointing for
Sunderland's GasGas teammate,
Daniel Sanders. The Australian
has been in constant conten-
tion for the win after taking three
stage triumphs but a crash while
on the liaison section of Stage 7
saw him break his left elbow and
wrist, forcing him out of further
participation in the event.
Another top rider to retire
was American Skyler Howes. In
his Dakar debut for the factory
Husqvarna team, Howes crashed
out on Stage 5 after holding
eighth overall.
As for former Rally winner
Ricky Brabec, his has been a dif-
ficult Dakar after losing over 53
minutes on Stage 2, effectively
ending his chances of a top-three
finish. The factory Honda rider
has worked his way back up to
13th at the time of writing, 39:58
off the Rally lead.
Andrew Short holds 11th after
Stage 8 on the factory Yamaha
after a consistent performance
thus far, banking top 15 results on
nearly every stage.
Matthias Walkner's rally
has been uber-consistent
as the Austrian lies second,
although he's yet to take a
stage win in 2022.
