Australian motorcycle phenomenon Daniel 'Chucky' Sanders is powering towards another triumph with the World Rally-Raid Championship title within his grasp.
Dakar Rally champion at the start of the year, Sanders has since won the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge and South Africa Safari Rally and this week is leading the fourth leg of the world championship series at Portugal's Ultimate Rally-Raid, starting with three straight stage wins.
Looking well on course for a unique clean sweep of all five demanding championship races , with his defence of the Morocco Rally title to come next month, the 31-year-old Victorian is dominating the bike championship as no-one ever has before.
The 31-year-old Red Bull KTM rider Sanders, who edged the third stage of the week-long Portugal Rally-Raid from Grandola to Badajoz by just four seconds from Monster Energy Honda's Tosha Schareina on Thursday, is now one minute 36 seconds clear of the Spanish star overall.
American Ricky Brabec is third in the standings, but well over seven minutes adrift as Sanders homes in on the world title that's never been won by any Australian rider.
Toby Price came the closest in 2023 when he finished runner-up in the championship behind Argentine Luciano Benavides.
Sanders currently leads the championship race by a huge 33 points from Benavides, and his path was eased even further when two of his most distinguished rivals, Adrian Van Beveren and reigning champ Ross Branch, both crashed out of the race on Thursday's stage two.
For Sanders, who had already won the prologue and first stage, it was a 14th win of the season and a 22nd in all in his increasingly impressive world championship career.
