SANDERS CROWNED 2025 W2RC CHAMPION 

“It’s a dream come true to win the world championship. You think about it when you’re a kid no matter what sport you do, but I chose motorbikes, and it worked out really well.”

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Daniel Sanders has secured the 2025 FIM World Rally-Raid Championship with a dominant win at Round 4 of the series in Portugal. Continuing his unbeaten record this season, Chucky topped the timesheets in prologue and three of the five stages to take the race win and the championship crown. Sanders now joins Toby Price as the only two Australians to have ever won a FIM World Rally-Raid Championship. KTM teammate Luciano Benavides claimed third place overall, while Edgar Canet took the win in the hotly contested Rally2 category.

After a break of four months since the previous round on the W2RC calendar, Red Bull KTM arrived in Portugal focused on continuing their run of success in the 2025 season. Sanders immediately threw down the gauntlet to his rivals on the short but intense prologue, where he beat teammate Canet to the win by a mere two seconds.

Heading into Stage 1’s 425km loop, with 325km raced against the clock, Sanders took advantage of his start position to attack right from the start, mastering the dry, slippery terrain to open a gap on the rest of the field. Winning the special by just under a minute, the Australian took early control of the rally and set the tone for what would become another dominant performance.

Stage 2 saw Sanders clinch the win once again. The longest of the event, Stage 3, saw tactics come in to play in order to conserve tires on the long, demanding timed special. After easing off to ensure a safe finish, Daniel placed second on the stage as the rally reached its halfway point.

Stage 4 was decisive with a timed special of 274km, and Sanders subsequently opened up a sizeable lead at the front of the field. Taking his third stage win of the event, he headed into the final day with an advantage of over three minutes.

Sunday’s Stage 5 could not have gone better for the team. Benavides claimed his first stage win of the event, closely followed by Sanders in second and Canet in third, with the three teammates separated by just 10 seconds. The result saw Daniel take the race win by a comfortable three minutes and 40 seconds.

In claiming victory at Rally Raid Portugal, Sanders secured the 2025 FIM World Rally-Raid Championship title with one round to spare. His triumph at Round 4 is the latest in a flawless string of results. After a career-first win at the iconic Dakar Rally earlier this year, he then proceeded to win every subsequent round, culminating in this decisive performance in Portugal. His total sweep not only secures the rider title, but underscores the performance and reliability of the KTM 450 RALLY under Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s development.

Daniel Sanders: 
“It’s a dream come true to win the world championship. You think about it when you’re a kid no matter what sport you do, but I chose motorbikes, and it worked out really well. The race here has gone so well, and the bike has been perfect, so a massive thank you to the team for all the hard work they put in. It’s very rare to have this sort of consistency in rally as it’s often so unpredictable. But up to now, we’ve put in a perfect season, and we’ll still be aiming to carry that into Morocco. It’s still all sinking in really. I’m happy to get the world championship here in Portugal and hopefully, there’s a lot more to come.”

Delivering an excellent performance in Portugal, Luciano Benavides’ pace increased as the rally progressed. After delivering a top-10 result in the prologue, the Argentinian backed that up with 5-4-3-3-1 stage results. Now, with just the Rallye du Maroc remaining, Benavides lies second in the RallyGP standings, three points ahead of third-placed Honda rider Tosha Schareina.

Luciano Benavides: 
“I’m super happy to have finished the rally with P1 on the last stage – I was riding well and had a lot of fun today. It’s really important for me to leave Portugal with a stage win as well. It’s great to finish on the podium here and I’m still second in the championship. I struggled to get comfortable early on, but we worked on things and made some improvements as the race went on. We know what we have to do for Morocco and then Dakar now. Congratulations to Daniel for winning every round and thanks to the team for the amazing job they do.”

Edgar Canet once again proved why he’s one of the hottest new talents on the World Rally-Raid scene. Following his runner-up result on the event’s opening prologue, the young Spaniard put in a mature ride across the entire event, winning all but one stage in his category. Canet’s Rally2 victory sees him take the lead of the class standings with one round left to contest.

Edgar Canet: 
“It’s been a fantastic week for us here in Portugal. I’m super happy with the feeling on the bike and how I rode. This final stage was perfect – with some rain overnight, the track was really grippy and suited the tire we’re using, so we were able to push and come home with a KTM 1-2-3 on the special. Daniel has won the championship, and I am leading Rally2, so it’s been an incredible event for the team. I’m looking forward to the final race in Morocco now.” 

Andreas Hölzl – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Rally Team Manager: 
“Obviously, I’m really happy for Chucky to be a world champion and a well-deserved one. He did an amazing job here and managed everything perfectly. He really is a pro athlete – from Dakar onwards, to win every single race and so many stages, it just shows what an amazing job he’s doing. For the team, for KTM, we couldn’t be happier, so congratulations to him. Luciano has had a very good week, without any mistakes and had the pace to finish on the podium. Hopefully another good result in Morocco will see him take second in the championship. Then for Edgar, he’s had another impressive race, not only winning Rally2, but showing really good pace and maturity for someone so early in their career. Overall, I’m so proud of the whole team, I really couldn’t be happier.”

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing will next be in action at the Rallye du Maroc, held in Morocco on the 10-17 October.