Like last year, GasGas can only count on one of its riders alone to win the first leg in 2023. This year, it is Daniel Sanders and, despite a day when he was less consistent than the others, he still leads the general rankings. In the Rally 2 class, the race to succeed Mason Klein seems to be a duel between his runner-up last year Romain Dumontier (HT Rally Husqvarna Racing) and Paolo Lucci (BAS World KTM Racing) since Bradley Cox exited the rally early due to injury. The Italian triumphed today, but the Frenchman remains in charge of the general rankings ahead of the Italian. In the quad race, the arrival this season of Manuel Andújar, who won the Dakar in 2021, is sowing seeds of doubt in the protagonists of season 1, namely Laisvydas Kancius and Pablo Copetti. The Argentinean currently leads the W2RC rankings. In the car category, following Guerlain Chicherit’s victory yesterday, it was the turn of Sébastien Loeb to bounce back. While his success is no form of consolation for time missed out in the lead on the Dakar, it will perhaps offer him the possibility of 5 points in Dammam, which could make the difference. Peterhansel and Sainz, both on the day’s podium, are also gleaning points for stage wins that could be a game-changer when it comes to the crunch. In the T3 category, the five crews of the Red Bull dream team are taking over, as they occupy the first five places in the general rankings. In the T4 race, world number one Rokas Baciuška is for the moment under threat but remains on the provisional podium, behind Rodriguo Luppi de Oliveira and Eryk Goczał. In the truck category, Martin Macík launched his comeback. The Czech driver regained twelve minutes on his direct rival in the championship Janus Van Kasteren who only leads by 26 minutes. There are still 30 days of racing in the 2023 championship, so it is all to play for!
