Ross Branch was close to the top during the first stage of the 2025 Dakar Rally. After finishing second in the prologue, the reigning Rally-Raid World Champion secured third place in Saturday’s first stage.
Branch completed the over 400km timed section in 4h43m53s – 2m26s slower than Daniel Sanders (Red Bull KTM), who claimed his second consecutive victory.
The Hero MotoSports rider shared his thoughts on social media: ‘I had a good day today. There were some tricky points throughout the stage and it was a super long stage! Tomorrow we head into the 48H and 1,000km’.
Ahead of the 48-hour stage, Branch is in third place in the overall standings, sitting 2m38s behind the leader, Sanders, at the end of the first stage.
