Sanders wins Sonora Rally - Price extends World Rally-Raid points lead

2023 Sonora Rally, Mexico
Stage Five – Final

Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing’s Daniel Sanders has claimed overall victory at the 2023 Sonora Rally, round three of the FIM Rally-Raid World Championship. Opting to sit out round two of the series – the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge – Daniel hit the ground running in Mexico, completing a near perfect event in which he earned no fewer than three special stage victories.

Seven minutes ahead going into the final day of competition, and not having the pressure of being the first rider into the stage, the final day of competition at the Sonora Rally, thankfully, went exactly to plan for Sanders. Hitting the front by the kilometre, Daniel kept on pushing to the finish, picking up the day win and with it a big, fat first ever world rally-raid victory! Despite missing round two of the rally-raid series, victory in Mexico lifts Daniel to fifth in the championship standings.

Daniel Sanders

“It’s great to get my first rally win. It feels like it’s been a long time coming – obviously after a year off it’s great to be back where I want to be. Dakar’s the big one but getting wins in the world championship is also super important. I’ve had some bad luck with speed penalties and things like that in some events, so to finally get a world championship win means a lot to me. Also, I feel like I’ve ridden well this event, leading out on several days, and generally having a good run through the event. Yeah, after a year out and then getting sick at Dakar, it’s all heading in the right direction. I’m improving still, and thanks to the team who always give me a great bike I feel like things are really coming together now.”

Countryman Toby Price, finished in fourth place overall for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing and in doing so has increased his advantage at the top of the FIM World Rally-Raid Championship standings to seven-points.

Although the fifth and final special of this year’s Sonora Rally was relatively short at 139 kilometres, it still posed a huge challenge to all riders with its fast sandy tracks. First into the stage following his win on day four, Toby Price knew he’d have to attack the special to stay ahead of his chasing rivals.

Giving his all, Toby clocked in as second fastest all the way to the final few kilometres, where unfortunately, while opening the stage, a costly error caused the two-time Dakar Champion to lose several minutes. Crossing the finish line in sixth, Price narrowly missed out on the overall rally podium by just over two minutes. Nevertheless, his strong performance over the five-day event earned him enough points to increase his lead in the FIM World Rally-Raid Championship standings, with two events left to race.

Toby Price

“I’m obviously really disappointed. I made a stupid little mistake right at the end there. I didn’t quite get the right road, so I had to cut across and then come back, and then when I was back on the road I turned left instead of right. A silly mistake, but it ended up costing me the podium. That’s racing unfortunately – the championship still looks good, but I’m gutted to have missed out here in Mexico, right at the very last stage.”