World champ Daniel Sanders has battled home heroically to finish the Dakar Rally with a broken collarbone and breastbone -- and reckoned his pain was eased by being able to hand over his motorbike crown to his teammate Luciano Benavides.
Argentine Benavides earned the narrowest victory in the great race's history on an incredible final Saturday, cashing in on a navigation blunder by American Ricky Brabec minutes from the finish to win by just two seconds after nearly 49 hours of racing over two gruelling weeks.
Australian 'Chucky' Sanders had looked sure to successfully defend his title on his factory Red Bull KTM until he crashed in the Saudi Arabian dunes on Wednesday.
But he was still able to laud his teammate sportingly, feeling pride in completing the last 1300km of the race while effectively riding one-handed and in agony with his injuries.
"I only heard the news at the finish. I was in a lot of pain and honestly just ready to lie down, but that gave me the extra motivation to go and see Luciano and congratulate him," said the courageous Yarra Valley rider Sanders, who ended up, remarkably, still finishing fifth overall.
"It's so cool and really incredible for the whole team. Unfortunately, I was unlucky in my own race and out of the fight for the win, but the win is still in the team, and that's something special."
Brabec, on his Honda, had been hurtling towards a third Dakar victory in the final 105km sprint along the Red Sea coast to Yanbu after beginning with a 3min 20sec lead on Saturday.
Yet seven kilometres from the finish, he took a fateful wrong turn, allowing Benavides to pounce and earn an "impossible" victory.
"It's unreal," Benavides said. "Two seconds after two weeks and almost 8000 kilometres is something that is hard to understand.
"It was mathematically almost impossible to win, but I never stopped believing. There was no strategy any days, I just give my best. I never tried to slow down. I feel bad for Ricky. He did a mistake and it cost him the Dakar."
The previous closest margin had been 43 seconds -- and, amazingly, that was achieved by Benavides' older brother Kevin in the 2023 motorbike race in another stunning comeback, when he overturned the 12-second lead held by Australian Toby Price.
Red Bull KTM Rally Manager Andreas Holzl was quick to praise Sanders, declaring: "Chucky, our real survivor, deserves massive respect. We are incredibly proud of what Luciano, Edgar (Canet, the final-stage winner), Chucky, and the entire team have achieved – it's honestly unbelievable," he said.
"We fought right until the very last metre and never gave up, and that was the key."
Sanders at least picked up valuable points as he seeks to defend his world rally-raid championship title, and he'll hope to be fit for the next round in Portugal from March 17–22.
Meanwhile, Qatari motorsport great Nasser Al-Attiyah comfortably sealed his sixth car title on the 13th and final stage.
It was the 55-year-old's first win for Dacia after a cautious final drive, nearly nine minutes behind Mattias Ekstrom, who won his car-leading fourth stage.
Aussie Price, the former two-time motorbike champ, ended up eighth overall in the cars race in his Toyota.
