DAKAR 2026

Sainz and Roma make up for a significant time loss on Al-Attiyah with a great performance from Cristina Gutiérrez

They didn't have much choice, considering the race situation after yesterday's stage. Carlos Sainz and Nani Roma, 10th and 11th in the overall standings, more than 6 minutes behind Al-Attiyah, needed to attack today... or they could lose their chance.

And they did, more than making up for what they lost yesterday. The Madrid driver and the Catalan opened up almost a 15-minute advantage over Al-Attiyah, the race leader until then, and, for example, almost 18 minutes over Loeb. And the difference could have been even greater if it weren't for two punctures on the Madrid driver's car and another two on the Catalan's, which forced them to slow down in the final laps.

But the one who really stood out today was the American Mitch Guthrie, who put on a show and left his Ford teammates behind. The young American finished 7:20 ahead of Roma, 7:30 ahead of Sainz, and 7:36 ahead of Ekström. His reward is nothing less than the overall lead, with Sainz now in fourth place, 8:05 behind. Interestingly, the top five in the standings are all Fords...

Dakar 2026---Stage 3 standings, cars:

Mitch Guthrie (Ford) 4h 04:32

Martin Prokop (Ford) at 2:27

Guy Botterill (Toyota) at 5:23

Lucas Moraes (Dacia) at 5:46

Cristina Gutiérrez (Dacia) at 5:57

Nani Roma (Ford) at 7:20

Carlos Sainz (Ford) at 7:31

Mathieu Serradori (Century) at 7:32

Mattias Ekström (Ford) at 7:36

Dennis Krotov (Ford) at 9:24

Punishment for Al-Attiyah...or not? Those who suffered the most today were those who were among the best yesterday. That's why drivers like Nasser Al-Attiyah and Sébastien Loeb (not to mention those from Toyota) lost a lot of time.

However...they're probably not too worried, as tomorrow's stage, where the cars won't have the slipstream of the motorcycles, could be extremely difficult for the leaders. The Frenchman and the Saudi hope that what they gain tomorrow will compensate for what they lost today... but that's just speculation.

Cristina Gutierrez, supported by Spanish fans at the start of the 3rd stage of the 2026 Dakar Rally-image above Photo: MARTIN DUSEK

Cristina Gutiérrez had a sensational day, finishing in fifth place (equaling her best Dakar result) in an extremely challenging stage, with all the characteristics of one of the most difficult in this race. And, in addition, she was the best Spaniard.

The rider from Burgos consistently remained among the top 10, even recording the second best time in the first section, but always demonstrating an impressive level of consistency. And the result is so remarkable that it finished only 11 seconds behind the World Rally Raid Champion, Lucas Moraes (after, remember, more than 420 kilometers of timed sections). It almost achieved the honor of being the best Dacia.

Dakar 2026---General vehicle classification, stage 3:

Mitch Guthrie (Ford) 11h 27:20

Martin Prokop (Ford) 26 seconds behind.

Mattias Ekström (Ford) at 1:08

Carlos Sainz (Ford) at 3:34

Nani Roma (Ford) at 4:02

Lucas Moraes (Dacia) at 5:16

Cristina Gutiérrez (Dacia) at 5:59

Mathieu Serradori (Century) at 9:06

Saood Variawa (Toyota) at 10:57

Nasser Al-Attiyah (Dacia) at 11:39

Tosha Schareina wins stage 3 of the 2016 Dakar Rally and Daniel Sanders maintains the lead

Spaniard Tosha Schareina won his first stage victory in the 2016 Dakar Rally on stage 3, opening the scoring for Honda and ending KTM's winning streak. Australian Daniel Sanders maintained the overall lead after a difficult day of navigation, in which Slovak Stefan Svitko and the promising Austrian Tobias Ebster failed to finish the race.

With 422 timed kilometers on the AlUla circuit, today's stage was the longest of this first week, representing a great challenge in terms of navigation and therefore a first real test for the big favorite for the overall victory, Australian Daniel Sanders, who had the unenviable task of opening the course after winning yesterday's stage.

Unlike the previous day, when the roles were reversed, today the young Spaniard Edgar Canet failed to catch his teammate and, on the contrary, lost time watching the Hondas of Ricky Brabec, Skyler Howes and, finally, Tosha Schareina catch up and overtake him.

It was Schareina himself who took advantage of his starting position, after finishing fifth yesterday, to push his Honda CRF 450 to the limit and, despite suffering a spectacular fall (fortunately without consequences), managed to win, crossing the finish line with a time of 4 hours, 26 minutes and 39 seconds, leaving Canet and even Howes behind.

Ricky Brabec and Daniel Sanders had arrived at the finish line earlier and, thanks to the bonuses (of 1:43 and 6:29, respectively), managed to finish in second and third place, with the American contributing 2:17 and the Australian 3:28, enough to maintain the lead.

Slightly less cautious, but always very solid, are Argentinian Luciano Benavides and American Skyler Howes, who finished in the top five of the stage, four and a half minutes behind Schareina. Much further back is Botswanan Ross Branch, ten minutes behind, with Edgar Canet in seventh, 11:44 behind, on his first difficult day of this edition.

Frenchman Adrien Van Beveren has yet to find his rhythm, losing almost 13 minutes and finishing ahead of the two best Rally2 drivers, with South African Michael Docherty three minutes ahead of Portuguese Martim Ventura today.

Among the other Spanish drivers, Josep Pedró and Javi Vega stood out with a one-two finish in the Original category, closing in on the leader, Romanian Emanuel Gyenes. Arnau Lledó continues his excellent form, finishing again in the top 40 and consolidating second place among the Junior drivers.

The most negative aspect of the stage was two notable withdrawals: the young Austrian Tobias Ebster said goodbye to his third participation in the race after injuring his left hand in a fall at kilometer 14. The veteran Slovak Stefan Svitko abandoned the Dakar 2026 after injuring his shoulder in a fall at kilometer 140, this being only his fifth withdrawal (and the first in Asia) in 17 participations in the competition.

DAKAR 2026 - STAGE 3 RESULTS:

1 Tosha SCHAREINA Honda 4h26'39''

2 Ricky BRABEC Honda +2'17''

3 Daniel SANDERS KTM +3'28''

4 Luciano BENAVIDES KTM +4'30''

5 Skyler HOWES Honda +4'32''

6 Ross BRANCH Hero +10'38''

7 Edgar CANET KTM +11'44''

8 Adrien VAN BEVEREN Honda +12'45''

9 Michael DOCHERTY KTM +12'54''

10 Martim VENTURA Honda + 16'07''

Autonews and Mundoquatrorodas