Sunderland Continues To
Hold Sway In Dakar
B
riton's Sam Sunderland is
continuing to hold the lead
of the 2022 Dakar Rally as Cycle
News closed for publication, as
the GasGas rider took the win
on Stage 8 to sit 3:45 ahead of
former Red Bull KTM teammate
and 2018 race winner, Matthias
Walkner.
Sunderland has been playing
the long game in the 2022 event,
taking the lead of the overall clas-
sification on Stage 2 but failing to
win an individual Stage until the
eighth time of asking, where he
triumphed over Honda's Pablo
Quintanilla and Walkner.
"That was a really challenging
stage today," Sunderland said
at the conclusion of Stage 8.
"There was a lot of sand early
on but then near the end, there
were a lot of canyons to navigate
through. You had to be really
patient and choose the right one
as it would be so easy to get lost
and lose time. The guys opening,
fortunately, did a great job, which
made things a little easier for me
but after leading out yesterday,
I know how tough that can be.
Early on I was pushing hard and
I was a bit too aggressive with
a few small crashes in the sand
so I had to settle down a bit, get
into a rhythm, and it paid off as I
was able to take the stage win.
We have some long days ahead,
but today's result is just what I
needed after everything that hap-
pened yesterday."
Sunderland's rally looked to
have suffered a serious blow on
Stage 7 when he lost over 25
minutes with navigational issues
IN
THE
WIND
P32
Sam Sunderland
has only put one
navigational foot wrong
on the 2022 Dakar and
leads after Stage 8.
