operations, which really limited
my preparation, so it's been great
to bounce back and be competi-
tive. It's been an unreal experi-
ence and hopefully next year I
can come in stronger and fitter
and be more ready to go."
Special mention must also be
given to Ross Branch (Hero). The
Botswanan took two stage wins
(stages eight and 10), taking the
Indian manufacturer's Dakar win
stage win tally to three following
Joaquim Rodrigues' triumph in
2022.
A disastrous opening week
of competition with mechanical
problems put paid to Branch's
chances of overall victory as
he came home 26th at the flag,
16 places down on teammate
Franco Caimi.
eren. From there it was all about
playing catch up for Sanders,
who returned to the podium on
stage eight in second and again
on stages 11 and 12, the Austra
-
lian surging back into the top 10
for seventh at the finish.
"It's been a long road to get
here," Sanders said. "After crash
-
ing here last year I've had six
pion and teammate Sam Sunder-
land's exit from the rally on the
first stage, barely 60 kilometers
into the event.
Sanders took a win on stage
three, but his rally suffered a
fatal blow on stage five when he
was stricken with food poisoning
and dropped 26 minutes and 56
seconds behind winner Van Bev
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ROUND 1 / JANUARY 1-15, 2023
SAUDI ARABIA
P52
OFF-ROAD I FIM RALLYRAID WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Howes and his impressive
moustache were ecstatic
with a Dakar podium.
Jose "Nacho" Cornejo
was not to be left out
and took the win on
stage 12. His Dakar,
however, was doomed
from the start when
he crashed in the
Prologue stage and
dropped to 27th place.
He would end the
rally in eighth after a
superb fightback.
