Terranova Wins Stage 6 of 2022 Dakar Rally; Sanders Wins Shortened Bike Stage

For the first time in seven years, Bahrain Raid Xtreme driver Orlando Terranova is a Dakar Rally stage winner, triumphing on Stage 6 with a winning time of 3:06:45. On a day when three different manufacturers took stage podiums, and not with the drivers you’d expect—Mattias Ekstrom was second for Audi, and Yazeed Al Rajhi’s Toyota was third—Terranova climbed to eighth in the overall standings, where Nasser Al-Attiyah maintains the overall lead by 48:54 over new second place driver Al Rajhi.

Although none of the six overall leaders from yesterday were able to earn the top spot on Stage 6, none of them yielded the top spot either. Chaleco Lopez remains 23 minutes ahead of EKS South Racing teammate Sebastian Eriksson in the Light Prototype class with a third place stage finish, as Seth Quintero’s race for pride continued with yet another stage victory.

#403 Goczal Michal (pol), Gospodarczyk Szymon (pol), Cobant-Energylandia Rally Team, Can-Am XRS, T4 FIA SSV, action during the Stage 5 of the Dakar Rally 2022 around Riyadh, on January 6th 2022 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – Photo Gigi Soldano / DPPI

Rodrigo Luppi de Oliveira added another two minutes to his overall SSV lead on Austin Jones with a second place finish today to Marek Goczal. In the trucks, Dmitry Sotnikov remains 10:29 clear of Kamaz teammate Eduard Nikolaev thanks to a runner-up stage finish to fellow Kamaz racer Andrey Karginov.

Unfortunately, this year’s experiment of running two Riyadh-based loop stages on alternating days for different classes proved not to be a full success. The motorcycles and quads were halted after just 101 kilometers after a combination of heavy rains and deterioration from the cars and trucks passing through yesterday.

04 Sanders Daniel (aus), GasGas Factory Racing, KTM 450 Rally Factory Replica, Moto, W2RC, 05 Howes Skyler (usa), Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing, Husqvarna 450 Rally Factory Replica, Moto, W2RC, action during the Stage 4 of the Dakar Rally 2022 between Al Qaysumah and Riyadh, on January 5th 2022 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – Photo Florent Gooden / DPPI

Daniel Sanders was the fastest racer to get through the shortened route at 51:43, 2:26 ahead of overall leader Sam Sunderland. Sunderland could only gain 10 seconds on Matthias Walkner for the overall lead, though, as Walkner ended the day third on stage. Aleksandr Maksimov was the fastest quad racer on the day, while Alexandre Giroud maintains a 4:52 overall lead on Pablo Copetti with a second place stage finish of his own.

509 Karginov Andrey (rus), Mokeev Andrey (rus), Malkov Ivan (rus), Kamaz-Master, Kamaz 43509, T5 FIA Camion, action during the Stage 1B of the Dakar Rally 2022 around Hail, on January 2nd, 2022 in Hail, Saudi Arabia – Photo Frederic Le Floch / DPPI

2022 Dakar Rally Stage 6 winners were as follows:

• Bikes: Daniel Sanders (AUS), 51:43
• Cars: Orlando Terranova (ARG), 3:06:45
• Trucks: Andrey Karginov (RUS), 3:16:16
• Quads: Aleksandr Maksimov (RUS), 1:10:10
• Light Prototype: Seth Quintero (USA), 3:27:23
• SSV: Marek Goczal (POL), 3:39:24

#03 Sunderland Sam (aus), GasGas Factory Racing, KTM 450 Rally Factory Replica, Moto, W2RC, portrait during the second stage of the Dakar 2022 between Hail and Al Artawiya, in Saudi Arabia on January 3, 2022.

2022 Dakar Rally overall leaders after Stage 6 are as follows:

• Bikes: Sam Sunderland (GBR), 19:55:59
• Cars: Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT), 20:37:24
• Trucks: Dmitry Sotnikov (RUS), 22:25:54
• Quads: Alexandre Giroud (FRA), 25:18:29
• Light Prototype: Chaleco Lopez (CHL), 24:19:17
• SSV: Rodrigo Luppi de Oliveira (BRA), 25:04:01

The Dakar Rally pauses for Saturday’s rest day in Riyadh, before resuming on Sunday with six more days of racing. Coverage of Stage 6 will air on the Olympic Channel tonight at 8PM ET, with extended highlights also streaming on NBC Sports digital platforms.