2025 Dakar Rally results from 48hr Chrono Stage 2 (part 1) where riders crunched epic distances and hours on the pegs – Red Bull KTM’s Daniel Sanders extends lead over Ricky Brabec.

2024 Dakar Rally 48 Hr Chrono Stage 2 (part 1) in a nutshell – Bisha > Bisha Special: 947km Liaison: 45km

How’s your maths? The rules are simple for stage two of the 2025 Dakar Rally: you have 947 kilometres of timed special to race across two days. At 5pm today, day one, all vehicles headed to the next nearest bivouac for a night under the stars with camps split into zones spreading from kilometre 491 to 671 (zones A to F). Part two begins at dawn tomorrow to complete the remaining kilometres.

In total the race leaders clocked around eight hours (including liaison, more for some) and over 650 raced kilometres starting from 6am for the first rider out the Bisha base camp. Bikes and cars started together today and ran tracks close to each other so they could arrive at the camps overnight. The route looks like this…

48-hour party people

The 48hr Chrono stage was introduced last year, proving popular for its authentic Dakar experience and as a spectacle if nothing else for comedy purposes as the car driver superstars like Carlos Sainz struggled to put up a tent.

Plus, it showed just how far the riders can get in one day when let loose. Last year the lead riders all reached the furthest designated camp without too much trouble but this year they were slower covering the ground slower than expected they stopped one short, at zone E and kilometre 617. It means tomorrow they have a 330km to finish the Chrono stage followed by a long lay down.

Sanders cementing race lead

On the time sheets it was a similar story to day one with Daniel Sanders leading the way for KTM closely followed by Honda’s reigning champ Ricky Brabec and the world champion Ross Branch.

The Australian holds a virtual overall lead of 4′02″ over the American and 5′59″ over the Motswana. Tosha Schareina, 8′17″ back, is the fourth man to watch tomorrow.

2025 Dakar Rally stage 2, part 1 results – Top 21 making it to furthest camp (provisional):

*Results will remain provisional until the stage is complete tomorrow

Riding together, isn’t that nice…

Starting behind (start order in GP class was reversed from yesterday’s results to ensure stage one was “raced” and no sandbagging), aided the top riders who could use tracks of those ahead to amplify their speed, especially in the dunes.

Days like these help the fast Rally 2 riders who jump up inside the top 10 with greater ability to just race the track and read the roadbook less for longer (check Michael Docherty and Edgar Canet inside the top 10 today).

In reality, the lead riders caught and overtook the slower GP class riders starting ahead of them quickly and then rode with each other more or less from an early dune section to the night camp.

The group included most the Honda team, Branch and Mare on the Heros, the Shercos of Santolino and Goncalves, Rieju’s Dani Nosiglia, and privateers Martin Michek, Antonio Maio and Bradley Cox plus the KTM pair of Sanders and Luciano Benavides arriving shortly after. Bradley Cox, Stefan Svitko, Edgar Canet, Michael Doherty and Neels Theric (the top 21) also joined the top boys as they concluded the day in camp E, separate from the rest of the field.

At KM 412 there is a refuelling point where the leading riders are grouped together for a mandatory 40min break on this demanding 48hr chrono stage. All the top riders appear to be riding together 🤜🤛#Dakar2025 pic.twitter.com/FcgIATVawG

— DAKAR RALLY (@dakar) January 5, 2025

Bonus time

The closeness of the lead riders kept the Dakar crew on their toes checking the bonus times. Double bonus points were on offer for the course openers today (leading rider and anyone within 15 seconds) and while that is normally one or two, a huge total of 18 riders clocked bonus time today to complicate the maths.

Riding in a group meant no-one continued to gain or lose significant time after that initial race to get to the front. Daniel Sanders gained time in catching everyone from his later start time but only a little as brabec was the rider in front off the start (we hope this is making sense!).

Although they appeared to be riding together, often some weren’t always within the required 15s of the leader and therefore didn’t always benefit. That included Ricky Brabec who lost time on his rivals despite being able to see them. So the bonuses of 2:57, 1:57, 3:27 respectively for Sanders, Brabec and Branch shows who had their wits about them in thr group (Van Beveren clocked the most with 6:50).

The main movers and shakers overall today are firstly Sanders to extend his lead to 2m23s. Branch also should move closer to Brabec in second taking advantage of bonuses.

*NB overall classification is not updated overnight tonight as the stage is still “live”

Rally 2 dudes run riot

In Rally 2 class Jacob Argubright clicked into gear on the new customer Honda CRF450RX Rally bike today, challenging Edgar Canet on the factory KTM for the lead during the stage.

But despite a shoulder injury after crash yesterday, Michael Doherty took over in this competitive second class in the world championship to claim sixth overall and the R2 lead so far on this stage.

Dakar rookie Canet, an ex-motocrosser, enjoyed the dunes on his way to P7 at camp tonight…

The competitors operate under marathon stage conditions these two days as well meaning no service assistance, though they can help each other tonight at camps (plus an odd, very short road section earlier in the stage should anyone needs emergency tyre repair/change).

Tonight it’s a case of kicking the tyres, flapping the dust out the air filter, lighting the fire, getting some food and hitting the sleeping bag.

*Results will update tomorrow when they become official

Photo Credit: Edo Bauer + A.S.O. | DPPI