Dakar 2022: Sam Sunderland wins the 44th edition of the Dakar on a motorcycle – franceinfo

The motorcycle Dakar will have kept all its promises this year, and we had to wait until the last stage, Friday January 14, to find out the name of the winner of the 2022 edition. It was finally the Briton Sam Sunderland who finished in first place in the general classification, five years after his first coronation in 2017. Just behind, Pablo Quintanilla (+3’27), winner of the 12th stage, and Matthias Walkner (6’47) complete the podium. Frenchman Adrien Van Beveren finished in fourth place, more than 18 minutes behind the leader.

Here are @Sundersam‘s first words at the finish.

The british rider just won the #Dakar2022! pic.twitter.com/pg0OTh3OZi

— DAKAR RALLY (@dakar) January 14, 2022

The first British rider to win the Dakar, Sunderland also finished third in 2019 behind teammates Toby Price and Matthias Walkner. Last year, he won another podium in the wake of Kevin Benavides and Ricky Brabec.

This winter, the 32-year-old motorcyclist began a new adventure, after six contested editions with the Red Bull KTM factory team. He joins the official GasGas team and the Australian Daniel Sanders, very prominent at the start of the event (3 victories in the first 6 stages).

This questioning was fruitful, even if he had to wait until the second week to see his success take shape. The latest twist came on Thursday when Frenchman Adrien Van Beveren, then leader, got lost at the start of the 11th stage, losing more than a quarter of an hour.

>> The final general classification in the motorcycle category