Factory KTM rider Daniel Sanders has vowed to complete the 2026 Dakar Rally unless “someone drags me out” after nursing a broken collarbone during Stage 10.
The reigning champion arrived in the second part of the marathon stage in Bisha leading the overall standings, holding a comfortable 6m24s buffer over Honda rival Ricky Brabec.
However, disaster struck around one-third of the way through the 368km special when Sanders crashed in the dunes, injuring his left shoulder.
Despite the pain, the Australian remounted his KTM with assistance from Brabec and dragged the bike to the finish in 4h33m33s – a remarkable effort on a stage dominated by soft sand and around 100km of dunes.
“It looks like a snapped collarbone, for sure,” he told reporters including Motorsport.com. “At the refuel, we checked it, but it happened at 140km.
“I went over a dune and it was pretty scary. I nearly landed on Tosha [Schareina] and we all missed it. But I got up and knew the collarbone was broken and also the sternum [bone]. I’ve broken this as well, so there’s no power.”
The crash has effectively ended Sanders’ hope of defending his Dakar title, with the 31-year-old conceding 27 minutes over the course of the stage – a massive margin in an ultra-competitive bikes category.
He has slipped to fourth in the overall standings, 17 minutes behind new leader Brabec.
Sanders initially said he would consult with his team before deciding whether to continue, but quickly made it clear that he wants to finish the rally.
“It wasn’t nice in the dunes at all,” he said. “But unfortunately, we’ve let the rally go now. We’ll go back to the team and re-evaluate the injuries and the situation and see if it’s safe to continue.
“I wanted to continue and I wouldn’t have finished today if I didn’t want to continue.
“If I’ve just done 150km in the sand dunes, it shouldn’t be too bad. It’s all rocks now, so I can just stand up and cruise along.
“I think if it was sand dunes, it would be tough, but now we’re sort of done with the dunes, it’s on the gravel roads, it’s a little bit easier. But we’ll see.”
He added: “We don’t quit. Mum and Dad didn’t raise ‘no quitter’, so I’m not pulling out now until someone else tells me to pull out or they drag me out of the race, so I’m not stopping.”
Sanders had led the majority of the rally until Stage 10, but his accident means KTM’s victory hopes now rest with Luciano Benavides. The Argentine trails new overall leader Brabec by 56 seconds with four stages still remaining.
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