Daniel Sanders has enjoyed the perfect rest day at halfway in the Dakar Rally, the Australian motorcycle ace having his race lead increased by eight minutes without having to lift a finger.
Instead of him having to battle through the rocky terrain and the sand dunes of the world's toughest rally in Saudi Arabia, Sanders' much-needed break on Friday was enhanced by the news that his Red Bull KTM team's appeal against time penalties had been upheld.
It means that when the race resumes in Ha'il on Saturday, the 30-year-old Yarra Valley rider will have a lead of 15 minutes and two seconds, rather than the 7:02 advantage he thought he would be protecting.
It's bad news for the Australian's challengers, who have struggled to match Sanders' pace over the first week in which he won four of the six stages.
Sanders' nearest challengers are both Monster Energy Honda riders, Spain's Tosha Schareina and third-placed Frenchman Adrien Van Beveren, who's 24:31 behind.
Two-time Dakar winner and reigning champion, American Ricky Brabec is 29 minutes behind in sixth place.
Sanders got the good news in Ha'il after his team's protest against the previous day's eight-minute penalty for breaching race speed limits was examined by stewards.
Red Bull KTM had protested that the failure of Sanders' navigation tablet on Thursday's fifth stage meant he hadn't realised he was breaching the 40km/h limit on a bridge.
The stewards agreed the original stage result should be restored, with the International Motorcycling Federation (FIM) returning the lost time to Sanders, who now has a quarter-of-an-hour cushion going into the remaining 2600km of the race that finishes on Friday in Shubaytah.
Leading the Dakar from start to finish is a rare feat, but Sanders, who's been ahead since winning the prologue, is still on course to achieve it for the first time in the bike race since Spain's Marc Coma in 2009.
