Silk Way Rally: Sam Sunderland extends lead at Stage Six

Michelle Liew

July 13, 2019

The Silk Way Rally has ventured into Stage Six and Red Bull KTM’s Sam Sunderland takes the overall lead after finishing at fourth place.

Photo credits: KTM Factory Racing

The 2019 Silk Way Rally has made its way past to stage six and Red Bull KTM’s Sam Sunderland has extended his overall lead. He came in fourth at Stage Six. Trailing one place behind at fifth place is Laia Sanz to clinch eighth place overall. Luciano Benavides caps his run at 10th place to come third overall in the standings for the Silk Way Rally.

Sam Sunderland (Red Bull KTM)- As It Happened

Photo credits: KTM Factory Racing

“I started in front again today on what was a pretty strategic stage – with the rest day tomorrow and then the last few stages in the dunes of China, nobody wanted to win today. Of course, everyone has the same idea. You can see people trying to work out their strategies as the race continues. Leading out I didn’t have much reference so I just kept going. I managed to get the tricky section right but was always aware of the guys behind me and ended up losing some time myself. Overall, I’m happy with the bike and how everything is going. So I’m looking forward to these last few days in the dunes,” says Sunderland as quoted from KTM Factory Racing.

Laia Sanz (Red Bull KTM)- As It Happened

Photo credits: KTM Factory Racing

“It was a good stage today, I’m really pleased with the result. I was going well until the refuelling. Then I lost a few minutes in the same area where the others had problems. Luckily I was able to find my way back to the correct route quite quickly and was able to push for the rest of the stage.”

Luciano Benavides (Red Bull KTM)- As It Happened

Photo credits: KTM Factory Racing

“It was a really hard day for me today. My rhythm was good in the first half of the stage before the refuelling. After losing a little time yesterday I tried to concentrate on my navigation as much as possible today. There was one point in the second half of the stage today that caught a lot of people out. When I arrived, there were lots of lines in the sand but I ended up making a mistake and travelling some extra kilometres. It seems a lot of people lost some time there, but it’s still frustrating. I’m happy to get to the end of the stage safely and now look forward to China and the last three stages.”