Watch the Dakar Rally extended highlights January 2-14, exclusive and free on SBS from 5pm daily, also available on SBS On Demand daily in the morning.
After winning the opening 19km prologue stage, Sanders was able to select his starting position for the 333 kilometre journey from Ha'il, opting to set off from a strategic 15th in order to follow the tracks set by the riders before him.
And the move proved immediately to be a fruitful one, as 'Chucky' blitzed out of the gates to carve out a 21-second lead on the competition at the first waypoint, which then became a 46-second lead as he reached the 160 kilometre mark.
Not one to go down without a fight, Quintanilla reeled in the Aussie's advantage to just 18 seconds in the ensuing 40 kilometre stretch, but ultimately couldn't hold Sanders as he put pedal to the metal in the final stanza of the stage to take victory by 2 minutes and 7 seconds.
Sanders now holds a 3 minute and 7 second lead at the top of the overall standings heading into tomorrow's stage from Ha'il to Al Artawiya, with Quintanilla in second and 2018 Dakar winner Matthias Walkner (KTM) in third after jumping two places.
Fellow Aussie, two-time champion Topy Price (KTM) endured a less-than-ideal day as he finished 47 minutes and 17 seconds behind Sanders in 22nd place.
Nasser Al-Attiyah (Toyota Gazoo) also made it two-from-two in the cars category as he swiftly crushed his competition after starting from tenth place to extend his overall lead to 12 minutes and 44 seconds, Frenchman Sébastien Loeb (Bahrain Raid Extreme) the only driver able to stick with him to remain in second.
It was a rough day for Audi and Carlos Sainz, as he and co-driver Stéphane Peterhansel plummeted from contention after getting lost 250 kilometres into the stage, losing a whopping two hours in the process.
Watch the Dakar Rally extended highlights January 2-14, exclusive and free on SBS from 5pm daily, also available on SBS On Demand daily in the morning.
