Sanders Wins Rally-Raid Portugal,
Clinches Title
R
ed Bull KTM's Daniel Sanders
won the BP Ultimate Rally-
Raid Portugal and the 2025 FIM
World Rally-Raid Championship
with a fourth consecutive vic-
tory. Sanders clinched the title
with one round, the fifth, still left
on the World Rally-Raid Champi-
onship schedule.
After a four-month break since
the previous round on the Rally-
Raid calendar, Sanders immedi-
ately threw down the gauntlet on
the short but intense Prologue,
where he beat teammate Edgar
Canet, who is competing in the
Rally2 class (for those who don't
qualify for RallyGP points but
compete for a World Cup title),
by two seconds.
Heading into stage one, a 265-
mile loop with 201 miles raced
against the clock, Sanders took
advantage of his start position
to attack right from the get-go,
mastering the dry, slippery ter
-
rain to open a gap on the rest of
the field and winning the special
by just under a minute.
Despite the best efforts of
Monster Energy Honda's Tosha
Schareina in stage two, Sand
-
ers clinched the win once again.
Stage three, the longest of the
event, saw tactics come into
play as riders attempted to
conserve their tires on the long,
demanding timed special. After
easing off to ensure a safe fin-
ish, Sanders placed second to
Schareina on the stage as the
rally reached its halfway point.
Stage four was decisive. With
a timed special of 170 miles,
Sanders was able to push hard
and subsequently open up a
sizeable lead at the front of the
field. Taking his third stage win
of the event, Sanders would
head into the final day with an
advantage of over three minutes.
WIND
IN THE
P44
Daniel Sanders (4) and
Luciano Benavides made it
a Red Bull KTM 1-3 at the
FIM Rally-Raid in Portugal.
PHOTO: EDO BAUER
