The bravery of Australia's world rally-raid champion Daniel 'Chucky' Sanders continues to astound at the Dakar Rally as the defending champion battled through another crash and more injury "torture" during the penultimate stage.
Sanders, in line for back-to-back triumphs until his crash in the Saudi Arabian dunes on Wednesday, reckoned the dreadful pain only ratcheted up as he tried to nurse his broken collarbone and fractured sternum through Friday's rocky 311km stage 12 from Al Henakiyah to Yanbu.
"This is torture," the Victorian said after slipping from fourth to fifth place overall, effectively having to ride with just one arm because of the agony down his left side.
But he could still smile through the painful grimaces, adding: "It was a nice stage -- if you had two arms!"
With American Honda stage winner Ricky Brabec, who'd stopped to help the stricken Sanders after Wednesday's crash, now set for a third triumph, Sanders could still achieve the monumental feat of completing nearly 1300km with a broken body just to make the finish.
His hell will be over after one final 105km stage around the Red Sea port of Yanbu on Friday, which should be a lap of honour for Brabec, who's 3:20 clear of Sanders' Red Bull KTM teammate Luciano Benavides.
"Everything was worse than yesterday," lamented Sanders, who needed an ice bath afterwards as he struggled with the pain. "The terrain was more demanding with a lot of loose rocks and river beds.
"It was really difficult, technical stuff, so that's where it was really, really hard for me, riding with one arm.
"I had one crash and tried not to land on my left side, because it's already so damaged.
"It's a disaster to try to turn or anything like that, there's so much pain. In the end, I just had to make it to the finish and I did. I don't care about the time or anything like that, I'm just happy to make it here."
Asked if he feared he was only making the injuries worse, he shrugged: "Nah. I've already talked to the docs and stuff, there's not much more that we could do other than put it through the skin.
"The team and everyone behind me have worked so hard, this is the least I can do to give something back to them for all their hard work and trust. I just want to show them that I can go above and beyond for them and I'll do anything it takes to get a result. I'll be very happy when I see that finishing line".
Meanwhile, Qatar's Dakar legend Nasser Al-Attiyah is poised for a sixth cars title after the Dacia driver won the stage to extend his lead to 15 minutes.
It was the 50th stage win of the 55-year-old's amazing career, equalling the record in the car category held by Finnish rally great Ari Vatanen and France's 14-time Dakar winner Stephane Peterhansel.
Australian Toby Price, the two-time motorbike winner, grabbed his second podium finish of the race in third place in his Toyota, and is now eighth overall.
