but my speed has been right up
there with the best."
GasGas Factory Racing's
Sam Sunderland wrapped up
the 2022 FIM World Rally-Raid
Championship after placing 10th
overall. Sunderland needed just
three points to seal the deal and
was challenging for the overall
Andalucia win but suffered a time
penalty during stage three that
set him well back in the field. All
he needed to do to wrap up the
title was finish the final stage.
He ended up fifth overall in the
Andalucia Rally.
"Amazing! It's been a crazy
year with the Dakar win and then
winning in Abu Dhabi, but then
we had a big gap over the sum-
mer," Sunderland said after stage
four. "We were back in action for
the last round in Morocco but
that one was tough, as I hurt my
wrist in a crash before we even
started. But with the champion-
ship on the line, I had no choice
but to push through it and my
result there really made things
easier for the final round. I had a
couple of close calls yesterday
and after that and knowing that
getting on the overall podium
would be almost impossible, I
kept things super steady.
"I'm really grateful to have the
GasGas Factory Racing team be-
hind me, it's been an amazing year,
and I know we're all looking forward
to celebrating this one!"
CN
OVERALL
1. Adrien Van Beveren (Hon), 9:58:48
2. Kevin Benavides (KTM) +3:14
3. Luciano Benavides (Hus) +6:37
4. Lorenzo Santolino (She) +12:55
5. Sam Sunderland (GG) +15:22
IN
THE
WIND
P62
Dakar winner Sam Sunderland wrapped up the 2022 World Rally-Raid Championship at the
Andalucia Rally season finale.
PHOTO: RED BULL CONTENT POOL
