Ross Branch finished fifth in the second stage of the 2025 Dakar on Monday. The Botswana native completed the Chrono 48H 10m02s behind stage winner Daniel Sanders (Red Bull KTM) and is third overall, 12m40s behind the Australian.
The Hero MotoSports rider emphasized to the event’s official website that, despite the time lost, there is an opportunity to recover: ‘It’s still early days and we have a very long rally ahead of us. The main objective was to get the bike back in one piece. We knew the organization was going to throw a hard stage at us. We are still in the game, that’s the main thing. We might have lost a bit of time, but there is still time to catch up again’.
When asked about the consistency he has shown so far, Branch pointed out that this is the intended and necessary approach, as he carefully manages the risks:
– That’s the main goal. The Dakar is not won in the first week, for sure, but it’s easily lost, so I’m just trying to stay consistent and on the right track, not make any big mistakes and get to the finish, then we will see how the results are. I think everybody is taking a lot of risks, including myself, I have taken a couple, but I’m trying to limit the risks and hopefully that will work out for us at the end of the rally.
