Britain’s Sam Sunderland took victory in today’s 11th 2021 Dakar stage and closed in on overall leader Kevin Benavides.
Third overall coming into todayās stage and with an advantageous start position of eighth, the Red Bull KTM man set off 15 minutes behind the rally leader with every intention of chasing him down.
Knowing the long special offered a great chance to improve his position in the overall classification, Sunderland made the best use of his speed and experience to close in on his rivals.
Taking the lead of the stage by the fourth checkpoint at kilometre 215, the Brit remained in front on time from there to the finish.
Although a small navigational error cost him some minutes in the final kilometres, Sunderland claimed the win on the stage and did enough to move himself up to second in the provisional overall standings.
āI gave my all today ā I knew this stage would be one of the best chances I had to make up time on the guys in front,” said Sunderland.
“Itās great to win the stage, but it means I have to open tomorrow for the last day, which will be hard. Still, anything can happen as we know, and Iāll keep fighting right to the end.
“Itās been another really long, tough stage but Iām grateful to be able to just race my bike through the desert, especially with everything that is going on in the world at the moment.
“Iām grateful to my team too for all the hard work they have put in to get us here. The plan now is to do my best again tomorrow and weāll see where we are.”
2021 Dakar overall standings after stage 11
| 1 | 47 | (ARG) KEVIN BENAVIDES | MONSTER ENERGY HONDA TEAM 2021 | 45H 01′ 44” | 00H 02′ 00” | ||
| 2 | 5 | (GBR) SAM SUNDERLAND | RED BULL KTM FACTORY TEAM | 45H 05′ 56” | + 00H 04′ 12” | ||
| 3 | 1 | (USA) RICKY BRABEC | MONSTER ENERGY HONDA TEAM 2021 | 45H 08′ 57” | + 00H 07′ 13” | ||
| 4 | 21 | (AUS) DANIEL SANDERS | KTM FACTORY TEAM | 45H 34′ 49” | + 00H 33′ 05” | 00H 07′ 00” | |
| 5 | 9 | (USA) SKYLER HOWES | BAS DAKAR KTM RACING TEAM | 45H 50′ 51” | + 00H 49′ 07” | 00H 06′ 00” | |
| 6 | 15 | (ESP) LORENZO SANTOLINO | SHERCO FACTORY | 45H 51′ 10” | + 00H 49′ 26” | ||
| 7 | 2 | (CHL) PABLO QUINTANILLA | ROCKSTAR ENERGY HUSQVARNA FACTORY RACING | 46H 02′ 02” | + 01H 00′ 18” | ||
| 8 | 42 | (FRA) ADRIEN VAN BEVEREN | MONSTER ENERGY YAMAHA RALLY TEAM | 46H 27′ 30” | + 01H 25′ 46” | 00H 20′ 00” | |
| 9 | 11 | (SVK) STEFAN SVITKO | SLOVNAFT RALLY TEAM | 46H 28′ 24” | + 01H 26′ 40” | ||
| 10 | 31 | (CZE) MARTIN MICHEK | ORION – MOTO RACING GROUP | 47H 16′ 39” | + 02H 14′ 55” | 00H 03′ 00” | |
| 11 | 52 | (AUT) MATTHIAS WALKNER | RED BULL KTM FACTORY TEAM | 47H 31′ 04” | + 02H 29′ 20” | 00H 02′ 00” | |
| 12 | 27 | (PRT) JOAQUIM RODRIGUES | HERO MOTOSPORTS TEAM RALLY | 47H 40′ 42” | + 02H 38′ 58” | 00H 22′ 00” | |
| 13 | 74 | (ESP) JAUME BETRIU | FN SPEED – KTM TEAM | 48H 08′ 51” | + 03H 07′ 07” | 00H 06′ 00” | |
| 14 | 32 | (ESP) TOSHA SCHAREINA | FN SPEED – KTM TEAM | 48H 28′ 16” | + 03H 26′ 32” | ||
| 15 | 24 | (DEU) SEBASTIAN BĆHLER | HERO MOTOSPORTS TEAM RALLY | 48H 50′ 17” | + 03H 48′ 33” | 00H 18′ 00” | |
| 16 | 17 | (ESP) JOAN PEDRERO GARCIA | FN SPEED – RIEJU TEAM | 49H 00′ 06” | + 03H 58′ 22” | ||
| 17 | 87 | (ESP) ORIOL MENA | FN SPEED – RIEJU TEAM | 49H 07′ 11” | + 04H 05′ 27” | ||
| 18 | 26 | (CZE) MILAN ENGEL | ORION – MOTO RACING GROUP | 50H 52′ 53” | + 05H 51′ 09” | 00H 01′ 00” | |
| 19 | 44 | (ESP) LAIA SANZ | GAS GAS FACTORY TEAM | 51H 07′ 48” | + 06H 06′ 04” | 00H 10′ 00” | |
| 20 | 19 | (PRT) RUI GONCALVES | SHERCO FACTORY | 51H 23′ 19” | + 06H 21′ 35” | 00H 15′ 00” | |
| 21 | 30 | (LTU) ARUNAS GELAZNINKAS | ZIGMAS DAKAR TEAM | 52H 13′ 59” | + 07H 12′ 15” | ||
| 22 | 33 | (IND) HARITH NOAH KOITHA VEETTIL | SHERCO FACTORY | 52H 17′ 27” | + 07H 15′ 43” | 00H 02′ 00” | |
| 23 | 54 | (FRA) CAMILLE CHAPELIERE | TEAM BAINES RALLY | 52H 31′ 41” | + 07H 29′ 57” | 01H 01′ 00” | |
| 24 | 29 | (ROU) EMANUEL GYENES | AUTONET MOTORCYCLE TEAM | 53H 23′ 10” | + 08H 21′ 26” | 00H 02′ 00” | |
| 25 | 101 | (GBR) DAVID KNIGHT | HT RALLY RAID HUSQVARNA RACING | 53H 24′ 18” | + 08H 22′ 34” | 00H 24′ 00” | |
| 26 | 39 | (FRA) BENJAMIN MELOT | BENJAMIN MELOT | 53H 55′ 04” | + 08H 53′ 20” | 00H 01′ 00” | |
| 27 | 25 | (NLD) PAUL SPIERINGS | HT RALLY RAID HUSQVARNA RACING | 54H 13′ 48” | + 09H 12′ 04” | ||
| 28 | 80 | (AUS) MICHAEL BURGESS | BAS DAKAR KTM RACING TEAM | 55H 01′ 07” | + 09H 59′ 23” | 00H 39′ 00” | |
| 29 | 63 | (POL) KONRAD DABROWSKI | DUUST RALLY TEAM | 55H 35′ 20” | + 10H 33′ 36” | ||
| 30 | 53 | (CZE) LIBOR PODMOL | PODMOL DAKAR TEAM | 55H 50′ 05” | + 10H 48′ 21” | 00H 15′ 00” | |
| 31 | 37 | (CZE) DAVID PABISKA | JANTAR TEAM | 56H 11′ 03” | + 11H 09′ 19” | 00H 01′ 00” | |
| 32 | 48 | (FRA) MATHIEU DOVEZE | NOMADE RACING ASSISTANCE | 56H 16′ 27” | + 11H 14′ 43” | 00H 05′ 00” | |
| 33 | 95 | (FRA) XAVIER FLICK | XTREM RACING | 56H 45′ 51” | + 11H 44′ 07” | ||
| 34 | 41 | (CHN) ZAKER YAKP | WU PU DA HAI DAO DAKAR RALLY TEAM | 57H 59′ 54” | + 12H 58′ 10” | 00H 42′ 00” | |
| 35 | 108 | (ESP) MARC CALMET | FN SPEED – RIEJU TEAM | 60H 38′ 37” | + 15H 36′ 53” | 00H 02′ 00” | |
| 36 | 86 | (FRA) CHARLIE HERBST | DRAG’ON RALLY TEAM | 61H 47′ 20” | + 16H 45′ 36” | 00H 23′ 00” | |
| 37 | 46 | (SVN) SIMON MARCIC | MARCIC | 62H 08′ 46” | + 17H 07′ 02” | 00H 45′ 00” | |
| 38 | 84 | (GBR) NEIL HAWKER | NEIL HAWKER | 62H 24′ 17” | + 17H 22′ 33” | 00H 09′ 00” | |
| 39 | 78 | (ITA) CESARE ZACCHETTI | CESARE ZACCHETTI | 64H 04′ 04” | + 19H 02′ 20” | 00H 32′ 00” | |
| 40 | 81 | (SVK) ERIK VLCAK | SLOVNAFT RALLY TEAM | 64H 14′ 45” | + 19H 13′ 01” | 00H 27′ 00” |
