WATCH extended one-hour highlights from every stage of the 2022 Dakar Rally - January 2-15 (AEDT) - EXCLUSIVE and FREE on SBS and
The last stage before the race's first rest day was originally planned to be a 421 kilometre journey through the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh, following the same tracks navigated by the cars and trucks the day prior.
But upon inspection the tracks left by the trucks were found to have left the route in disarray and it was deemed not suitable to be navigated by the two-wheelers, partly due to overnight rain in the area.
This meant the stage was reduced to only 101 kilometres, ending at the first neutralisation point, where Sanders was again the fastest of the field as he moved up to third overall.
GasGas teammate Sam Sunderland completed a one-two on the day for the team, finishing second behind Sanders to hold his overall lead with a gap of 2 minutes and 39 seconds on second-placed Matthias Walkner (Red Bull KTM).
Walkner's teammate, Aussie Toby Price (Red Bull KTM) improved his own campaign with a ninth-place finish on the stage to move up to 12th overall and 39 minutes and 9 seconds off Sunderland's top spot.
Price was stripped of victory on Stage 5 due to a speeding penalty.
In the cars classification, Nasser Al-Attiyah (Toyota Gazoo) came in 10th on the day to finish the first week of the Dakar atop the overall rankings as main rival Sébastien Loeb dropped from second to third after a major navigation error saw him lose precious time.
Al-Attiyah now holds a near 50-minute lead on second-placed Yazeed Al Rajhi (Overdrive Toyota) heading into the first rest day.
Meanwhile in the trucks category, Russian Dmitry Sotnikov continues to lead an all-Kamaz top three in the general classification after the first week in a perfect start to the race for the team.
