DIRT NEWS
nothing to chance and clocked the fastest time in the Prologue . A runner-up finish on stage one continued his promising start before the second day of racing was cancelled due to bad weather . A couple of mistakes on the penultimate stage and an unfortunate time penalty ruled out any chance of ending the season with a podium result . But knowing that he just needed to complete the final stage to be crowned champion , Sunderland did exactly that , riding home in 5th place overall to lift the 2022 FIM World Rally-Raid Championship trophy . “ It ’ s been a crazy year with the Dakar win and then winning in Abu Dhabi , but then we had a big gap over the summer ,” Sunderland explained . “ We were back in action for the last round in
Morocco , but that one was tough as I hurt my wrist in a crash before we even started . But with the championship on the line , I had no choice but to push through it and my result there really made things easier for the final round . I had a couple of close calls yesterday and after that , and knowing that getting on the overall podium would be almost impossible , I kept things super steady . I ’ m really grateful to have the GASGAS Factory Racing team behind me , it ’ s been an amazing year , and I know we ’ re all looking forward to celebrating this one !” Celebrations won ’ t run too long , we ’ d wager , as the 2023 FIM World Rally-Raid Championship is set to kick back into life on December 31st 2022 with the 45th edition of the Dakar Rally .
100 KIWI RIDER