Rain disrupts all plans in the third stage of the 2023 Dakar Rally

If the first two stages of the Dakar Rally 2023 they have been disputed avoiding stones, the rain has been the protagonist of the third day. As the Dakar convoy headed from Alula to Ha’il, it found the last 100 km of the track washed away by water. Despite the stage being shortened to 377km, the race was more than enough to shake up the standings.

Nasser Al-Attiyah performed a miraculous mathematical equation at the head of the car race. He started the day more than two minutes behind the overall leader, Carlos Sainz, and finished day three more than 10 minutes behind the stage winner, Guerlain Chicherit. But with this result, Al-Attiyah takes the lead in the car general. The Qatari and his co-driver Mathieu Baumel now have a lead of nearly 15 minutes over his nearest rival. Eureka!

Part of the reason Al-Attiyah was able to take the lead in the third stage was the misfortune suffered by Carlos Sainz. The Matador and his co-driver Lucas Cruz were stopped for almost half an hour in their Audi RS Q e-tron E2 on the way to Ha’il.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing is also represented in the Top 3 of the motorcycle overall thanks to the performance of Kevin Benavides. The 2021 Dakar winner is less than five minutes behind Sanders and it is likely that he will cut some of that time on tomorrow’s stage.

“I was wet in different places because of the rain. This complicated things a bit today.” -Kevin Benavides

Joining Benavides in the Top 10 are his teammates and former Dakar winners Toby Price and Matthias Walkner. Coming in 25th overall is Camille Chapelière, who found today’s terrain much more suited to his riding style compared to the rocky roads of the first two stages.

After today’s downpour, the fourth stage will turn up the heat with 425 km against the clock. The loop stage around the Ha’il bivouac begins with a chain of dunes of more than 100 km and also features navigation traps along it.

Classification overall after the 3rd stage

Class T1 cars

1. Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT) TOYOTA 12:20:35

2. Yazeed Al Rajhi (SAU) TOYOTA +13:19

3. Stephane Peterhansel (FRA) AUDI +20:45

Light Vehicles T3

1. Seth Quintero (USA) CAN-AM 13:52:06

2. Guillaume De Mevius (BEL) OT3 +01:01

3. Mitch Guthrie (USA) MCE5 +05:46

T4 SSV

1. Marek Goczal (POL) CAN-AM 14:30:03

2. Rodrigo Luppi De Oliveira (BRA) CAN-AM +09:36

3. Eryk Goczal (POL) CAN-AM +31:15

motorcycles

1. Mason Klein (USA) KTM 14:03:50

2. Daniel Sanders (AUS) GASGAS +01:48

3. Skyler Howes (USA) HUSQVARNA +07:09

4. Kevin Benavides (ARG) KTM +10:41