DAKAR 2024

Sainz loses the lead by the minimum... with scare included

He was fighting throughout the day, but finally Carlos Sainz was unable to maintain the lead in the Dakar car category after completing the third stage, between Ad Duwadimi and Al Salamiya.

The Saudi Yazeed Al-Rajhi (Toyota) beat the Madrid native today in their particular duel by two minutes and 20 seconds, enough to take control of the race from the Matador by just 29 seconds. Sainz finished the semi-marathon stage in sixth position... but it could have been worse.

Of the bad, the least..."It has not been a clean stage, we had some problems with navigation at the beginning that cost us about five minutes," the Spaniard said at the finish line. But the biggest scare came later: "I was riding behind Mattias [Ekström], in the dust, and we caught a hole in which we almost overturned. We punctured there and we lost a little more time."

Spanish-Brazilian victory...The good news for Spanish interests is the stage victory of Lucas Moraes, the Brazilian who leads the Toyota army and who today has taken another step in his brilliant career in the car category by achieving his first stage win... along with his new co-driver, the Spanish Armand Monleón.

"I am very happy, it is my first stage victory in the Dakar [in cars]. But I am happier because of the feeling we have between driver, team and co-driver. I have really enjoyed the stage and we have had a great result, so it has "It's been a great day," commented the Spaniard at the finish line.

Moraes, who surprised in 2023 by getting on the podium in his Dakar debut, beat the Swede Mattias Ekström, winner of the prologue, by just nine seconds, who has started this edition very strongly. Al-Rajhi, who arrived at 1:09, and Al-Attiyah, at 1:33, completed the poker of drivers who preceded Sainz.

Al-Attiyah, on three wheels...Despite the fact that this stage is semi-marathon (there are two hours of mechanical assistance only after the stage), some have taken the maximum risk... this is the case of Nasser Al-Attiyah , who reached the Al Salamiya finish line on three wheels, in fourth position.

Peterhansel today suffered the combination of opening the track and demanding navigation, so his plan could only be to minimize damage (he lost almost eight minutes): "We arrived well, which is the important thing," he assured. Monsieur Dakar has not become the most successful driver in history today... but we will have to count on him again tomorrow, starting from behind.

But the biggest casualty was Sébastien Loeb, who spent almost 24 more minutes on the way to Al Salamiya. Three punctures left him without spare wheels and he has had to ride on flat tires, stopping every 20 minutes.

Enrique Naranjo