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Dakar 2024 Stage 3 Results: KTM's Kevin Benavides Wins As Toyota's Lucas Moraes Claims 1st-Ever Stage Victory
Stage 3 of Dakar 2024 saw KTM's Kevin Benavides win the stage in the bikes category while Toyota's Lucas Moraes claimed the top spot in the cars category.
The third stage of Dakar 2024 is the first half of a marathon special that will end tomorrow and it saw competitors race from Al Henakiyah to Al Duwadimi, a distance of 733 kilometres which included a 438km special stage.
Bikes
The bikes category saw defending champion Kevin Benavides pick up his first win of Dakar 2024 after provisional winner Pablo Quintanilla was hit with a six-minute penalty. Benavides ended the special stage with a time of four hours, 39 minutes and 28 seconds to take the top spot on Stage 3.
The other two podium spots were taken by Honda's Ricky Brabec, who was hit with a one-minute penalty and Adrien Van Beveren, who celebrated his 33rd birthday the day before Dakar 2024 started.
Brabec ended the day's special stage, one minute and 11 seconds behind Benavides while Van Beveren ended the special stage, two minutes and 51 seconds behind the stage winner.
The fourth spot was taken by yet another Honda with Skylar Howes bringing his bike across the line, two minutes and 57 seconds slower than the KTM of Benavides.
Hero had yet another mixed day on the dunes of Saudi Arabia with Sebastian Buhler crashing out of Dakar 2024. The German rider was suffering from lower back pain after the crash but was conscious and able to move when he was airlifted to the hospital.
KTM's Toby Price and Honda's Skyler Howes stopped to assist the stricken Hero rider and had their downtime returned at the end of the stage. Buhler's crash comes just a day after Joachim Rodrigues crashed out yesterday and leaves Hero with only two riders left in Dakar 2024.
There was more bad news for Hero as Dakar legend Joan Barreda Bort was hit with a 12-minute penalty and dropped from 2nd to 15th overall, ending the day, 11 minutes and 52 seconds behind Benavides.
The final and the best of the Hero riders on the day, Ross Branch, too was hit with a one-minute penalty and ended stage 3 in the 5th spot, three minutes and 18 seconds behind the KTM of Benavides.
Sherco's two remaining riders had a good day in the saddle with Portugal's Rui Goncalves the faster of the duo in 12th. Goncalves ended the stage nine minutes and 17 seconds behind today's stage winner.
India's Harith Noah rode his Sherco TVS 450 SEF Rally to 17th place in today's standings. The rider from Kerala ended the stage 15 minutes and 11 seconds behind the winning KTM.
In the overall standings after Stage 3, Hero's Ross Branch continues to lead Dakar 2024 for the third day in a row with an overall time of 14:32:51. The rider dubbed the Kalahari Ferrari, extended his lead over yesterday's winner Cornejo Florimo (Honda) to three minutes and 11 seconds.
Honda's Ricky Brabec is now third overall, with the American rider five minutes and eight seconds behind the leading Hero of Branch. The other remaining Hero rider, Joan Barreda Bort is currently 12th overall with a time of 15:10:21. The Spanish legend is 37 and half minutes behind teammate Branch, thanks to 20 minutes worth of penalties.
Portugal's Goncalves is the leading Sherco rider in 15th overall and sits 47 minutes and 48 seconds behind Hero's Branch. India's Harith Noah has climbed up to 18th overall and is 01:02:19 behind Branch.
Stage three also saw Great Britain's Sam Sunderland retire from the special stage after halting for over three and half hours, 11 kilometres into the special due to mechanical problems. As for the riders who were penalized today, the official word is they were all caught speeding over the special stage.
Cars
Stage 3 of Dakar 2024 saw last year's best rookie driver, Brazil's Lucas Moraes claim his first-ever stage win at Dakar. The Brazilian driver took the win, completing the special stage in four hours, 14 minutes and 51 seconds.
Moraes edged out Audi's Mattias Ekstrom to the top spot by just nine seconds with the Brazilian driver taking the lead at around the 310km point of the special stage.
The third and final spot on the podium was taken by home favourite Yazeed Al Rajhi, who ended the stage just one minute and nine seconds off the pace set by Moraes.
Two-time defending champion Nasser Al-Attiyah brought home his home Prodrive Hunter in fourth spot, two minutes and 33 seconds behind Moraes. Rebellion Racing's Romain Dumas ended the day in fifth, one second behind Al-Attiyah.
Spain's Carlos Sainz brought home the second Audi in sixth place, three minutes and 21 seconds behind the winning Toyota while the final Audi of Stephane Peterhansel ended the day in 8th overall, seven minutes and 31 seconds off the pace.
Nine-time WRC champion, Sebastien Loeb had a torrid time in the sands of Saudi Arabia, finishing the day in 23rd, 23 minutes and 43 seconds off the pace.
In the overall rankings, there is a change on the top of the leaderboard with Overdrive Racing's Yazeed Al Rajhi now leading Dakar 2024. The home favourite is now 29 seconds ahead of Audi's Carlos Sainz with a time of 13:07:29 after three days of racing.
The final podium spot is now occupied by the Audi of Mattias Ekstrom. The Swede currently trails Al Rajhi by eight minutes and 26 seconds.
Today's winner, Toyota's Lucas Moraes is now nine minutes and 17 seconds off the pace in fourth overall. Two-time defending Dakar champion, Nasser Al Attiyah, sits fifth, 10 minutes and 49 seconds behind his Saudi rival.
The final Audi of Stephane Peterhansel is sixth in the general rankings after Stage 3. The French driver, who achieved a record-equalling 50th Dakar stage win yesterday sits 18 minutes and five seconds behind Al Rajhi's Toyota Hilux.
Sebastian Loeb, despite all his problems today is still part of the top 10 with the French rally legend currently ranked ninth overall, 24 minutes and 58 seconds behind Rajhi.
Thoughts About Dakar 2024 Stage 3
The third stage of Dakar 2024 saw defending champion Kevin Benavides take the stage win in the bikes category after a lot of his rivals acted like Speedy Gonzales in the special stage and had time penalties galore flung at them. Hero had another mixed day in the saddle with Buhler crashing out and both Branch and Barreda Bort keeping the timekeepers busy.
In the cars category, last year's best rookie driver, Brazil's Lucas Moraes took his first-ever stage win at the Dakar Rally, sneaking past the hybrid Audi of Ekstrom to finish first.
With today's special stage part of a marathon section across two days, it will be interesting to see if Hero's Ross Branch and Overdrive Racing's Yazeed Al Rajhi manage to hold onto their slender leads.
With mechanics only allowed to work on the vehicles for only two hours, all contestants will be hoping their rides are in full working order as they tackle tomorrow's race to Al Hofuf, a distance of 631 kilometres which includes a 299km timed special stage.
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