Sunderland, GasGas Win Dakar Rally
S
am Sunderland (GasGas) is
the 2022 Dakar Rally Cham-
pion after sealing the deal with
an eighth-place finish on the final
Stage 12.
The Briton had a scare after
Stage 10 when his brother-in-law
Adrien van Beveren (Yamaha)
took over the Rally lead by clock-
ing the fourth fastest time, with
Sunderland dropping over 11 min-
utes in the overall standings to
fourth due to navigational errors.
However, a determined charge
by Sunderland saw him claw
back the advantage after Van
Beveren suffered his own navi-
gational problems, losing over
15 minutes in the dunes in what
was a hammer blow to his win
chances.
Sunderland held the advan-
tage in Stage 12, cruising home
3:27 ahead of Honda's Pablo
Quintanilla and KTM's Matthias
Walkner after a grueling 38 hours
of racing in the Saudi Arabian
desert. It was Sunderland's
second triumph in the Dakar after
claiming the 2017 race victory
when he was in Red Bull KTM
colors.
"Wow. What a feeling!" Sun-
derland said at the end of Stage
12. "That 10-minute period waiting
at the end of the final stage to
see if I'd won felt like a lifetime.
But this feeling, knowing I've won
a second Dakar, will stay in my
memory forever. This win feels
better than the first as this victory
was anything but easy. The times
were so close this year and there
was no time to let off the gas,
it was a really close race, right
to the end. All of the hard work,
the sacrifices, and everything
that the GasGas team has done
for me makes it all worthwhile.
It's been five years since my first
Dakar win, and it's been a long
IN
THE
WIND
P38
Sam Sunderland's win
puts him in rarified air
as a two-time Dakar
Rally victor.
