Sam Sunderland

Career

Sunderland made his Dakar debut in 2012, riding a Honda, after winning the United Arab Emirates National Baja Championship in 2010 and 2011. He was forced to retire on the third stage due to an electrical fault, and was unable to compete the following year after breaking both wrists in testing prior to the event. Later that year, he was signed to the factory KTM team, winning two stages of the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge and placing second in the Morocco Rally.

Achievements

• Riding for the factory Honda team in 2014, Sunderland became the first British rider to win a stage of the Dakar since John Deacon in 1998 when he won the second stage to move up to third in the overall classification, only to suffer engine failure the following day and drop out of the rally.