After two days riding in the slipstream of his tyro teammate Edgar Canet, Australia's Dakar Rally champion Daniel 'Chucky' Sanders has asserted his authority on the race, winning stage two to take the overall lead.
Sanders dodged camels and avoided crashing on a tricky stony stage in the Saudi Arabian desert.
The victory was his 10th stage on the Dakar Rally, making the Victorian the 22nd rider in the race's history to achieve a double-digit score.
Sanders had finished second to Canet in both the prologue and the first stage giving the young Spaniard a narrow lead in the 7,994km epic.
But that disappeared around the 100km mark as the second of a couple of minor spills opened the way for Sanders to open (take the lead) from his Red Bull Factory Racing teammate.
At the end of the 400km special, and after the bonus points awarded to the openers were taken into account, Sanders took the stage by one minute, 35 seconds, giving him a 30-second lead.
In third, 2:18 behind Sanders, is two-time winner Ricky Brabec, the American also coming third on the stage. Spain's Tosha Schareina (4:41) and Botswana's Ross Branch (7:46) make up the top five.
"It was really good after yesterday, a normal Dakar stage," said the 31-year-old Sanders.
"I like this area. We felt really good opening, the pace was good out front. The navigation was really tricky at some points but we fixed any mistakes quickly, didn't lose much time. A good rhythm, didn't push, didn't do anything crazy.
"When you can finish the stage like this, open most of the day and win, it's a good feeling."
In the car category Australian Toby Price, a double winner on two wheels, was fourth over the rough terrain in a Toyota Hilux T1+, 4:36 behind stage winner Seth Quintero.
Last year's overall runner-up, Henk Lategan of South Africa, was second.
However, Qatari Nasser Al-Attiyah took over the overall lead despite an eighth-place stage finish.
The five-time Dakar winner is seven seconds ahead of Quintero with Price seventh, 2;42 off the lead.
Belgian Guillaume de Mevius, whose opening stage win provided a big boost for co-driver Mathieu Baumel a year on from having a leg amputated, is third overall.
Tuesday's third stage winds through desert sands for 422km from and back to Al Ula.
with Reuters
