Dakar 2022 – Stage 3

Tuesday’s third stage of Dakar 2022 played out over an unscheduled loop in Al-Qaisumah on an altered route, shortened to a 255-kilometre special and a 380-kilometre link section as heavy rain in the area forced the organisers to cut short stage three, and with wet sand covering the tracks and dunes, the special delivered a fast-paced challenge to all competitors.

There were 214 kilometres of liaison to be tackled on a chilly Tuesday morning, with temperatures below 10°C, before reaching the start of the day’s timed special. The stage was raced over fast sandy tracks, some type two dune ridges and some twelve kilometres of off-piste tracks.

Hero MotoSports Team Rally rider Joaquim Rodrigues, in his sixth consecutive appearance at Dakar for the team, won Stage 3.  After a remarkable come-back in Stage 2, following a difficult Stage 1, Joaquim put up a fantastic performance right from the start of Stage 3 to move up to 17th outright.

Joaquim Rodrigues – Stage 3 Winner

“I’m extremely happy with how my day has turned out. Even though the stage was really fast, with a lot of difficulty around alternating dunes and tracks, I was able to push hard right from the very first kilometer. The Hero Rally 450 has been performing extremely well, and I’m happy that our great combination has helped bring home the first stage win at the Dakar. Thank you, Hero MotoSports, for all the effort they have invested in me, and for putting me through a large number of races this year – this has definitely boosted my confidence by leaps and bounds.”

This is the first-ever stage win at the Dakar by an Indian Team and an Indian manufacturer who develop their Rally motorcycles in conjunction with German performance house Speedbrain.

Wolfgang Fischer – Hero Team Manager

“We’ve made history! It’s amazing to enjoy the first stage win for Hero MotoSports at the Dakar today. We’re experiencing the sweet taste of victory after all the hard work a lot of people have put in over the past few last months and years. It is also JRod’s first stage win at the Dakar, and he absolutely deserves it. I’m really happy that he’s the one to have brought home this achievement for Hero MotoSports. Congratulations to the entire team, and to all our fans around the globe.”

After his fifth-place result on stage two, Toby Price knew he would have to push right from the start to make up time on his rivals ahead. However, with times so tight, it was tough for the Australian to claw back much more than a few minutes. Maintaining good speed over the entire special, Price was able to ultimately fight his way up to second, just over one-minute down on the eventual stage winner by the end of the day. The result moves Toby up to 14th overall, as he continues to regain the time lost on stage one.

Toby Price – P2 on stage

“Today has been a good day – super fast, so you can’t really make up time on anyone. We had some lines in the dunes that you could see, so I just tried to make a good clean stage and not make any big mistakes. I did have one little get-off, but other than that, nothing major. The results are close, but we’re going in the right direction, and we’ll see what tomorrow brings.”

Husqvarna’s Skyler Howes found the conditions very much to his liking, pushed hard from his fourth-place start position, made few errors and caught the three riders ahead of him before the end of the stage. Opening the special from there on, the American was able to maintain his position on the time sheets, despite his rivals chasing him down. Another fourth-place stage result means that Howes now lies fourth in the overall standings and will also enjoy a strong start position for Wednesday’s long 465-kilometre timed special from Al Qaysumah to Riyadh.

Skyler Howes – P4 on stage

“Today was really fun – fast like yesterday with plenty of tracks and some technical dunes. I started off fourth and stayed there till around kilometre 250 where there was a tricky-to-find waypoint and I managed to catch up with the three in front. From there to the finish I opened the whole way, which was really fun and good experience. I did ok on my navigation today, not perfect but it all went smoothly, and I was able to stay at a good pace even from the front. Fourth on the stage is really encouraging, so I’m stoked and already looking forward to tomorrow.”

As the 23rd rider to enter stage three after his little detour yesterday, Daniel Sanders was on the gas from the moment he entered the special until he roared across the finish line in Al Qaisumah. Despite being slightly frustrated that the stage was cut short due to heavy rain, the Aussie remains upbeat and near the front of the provisional standings. Sanders is now just under nine-minutes behind the race leader, team-mate Sam Sunderland, despite losing a few minutes on Tuesday when he stopped to have a feed late in the stage as he was hungry!

Daniel Sanders – P5 on stage

“It was a good day today. It’s a shame that the stage was cut short as I had a solid pace going and feel like I’d have made up some more time on the guys in front. The navigation was a little bit easier that previous days, so I was able to put my head down and charge all day pretty much. I enjoyed it and I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

Clawing back more time on stage three, Andrew Short was able to make up nearly four minutes on the provisional leader after another strong ride to complete the special as the sixth fastest rider. Thoroughly enjoying the rain-soaked sand dunes which have formed a large part of all the timed specials so far in this year’s Dakar, the American looks now forward to stage four as he begins to work his way up the leaderboard.

Andrew Short – P6 on stage

“Stage three was pretty good. I rode smooth and consistent, just maintaining a solid pace throughout and I ended up sixth which is pretty decent. I didn’t make any mistakes and it was a relatively simple stage, some high speed navigation thrown in but nothing too crazy. The terrain is simply amazing after all the rain that has fallen here recently so riding wise it’s been so much fun and I’m excited for more of the same tomorrow.“

Ricky Brabec was Monster Energy Honda Team’s best-placed rider on Stage Three, finishing seventh on the day in RallyGP after having set off from fifteenth position. Fine work for the American who is attempting to claw his way back up the rankings stage by stage.

Ricky Brabec – P7 on stage

“The day was fine. The rain a couple of days ago meant that the sand and dirt is still quite wet. When you start up in the rear of the pack, there’s not much navigation and you can see the lines go forever across the valleys and the dunes, so it makes it pretty easy from the back. Today was a fast day, one of the fastest. It’s only day three but we’re a little bit behind. We’ll wait to see how it goes tomorrow and we’ll keep pushing to see what happens at the end.”

Impressing once again with both his speed and consistency, Kevin Benavides rode a solid stage three to claim eighth place. As the third rider into the special, it meant that the Argentinian was soon up near the front of the pack, opening the stage along with another three riders. Thanks to his strong run of form, despite losing time on the difficult to navigate opening stage, Kevin now lies eighth in the provisional overall standings.

Kevin Benavides – P8 on stage

“I set off third today and so pushed right from the start. After the refueling I caught up to the guys in front and we rode together as a group of four in the end, which was good as the pace was quite high. Day by day I’m getting back some of the time I lost with a mistake on stage one, so things are going well.”

Adrien Van Beveren’s highly positive start to the 2022 Dakar Rally continued through stage three with the Frenchman placing ninth on the high speed timed special. With his strong finish comfortably defending his second-place ranking in the provisional classification, the 30-year-old will now enter stage four with an advantageous starting position and aim to deliver yet another impressive result.

Adrien Van Beveren – P9 on stage

“Today was good. It was very fast with a lot of open desert and with simple navigation, so nobody made any major mistakes. So far, the rally is going really well for myself and the team. I feel great on the bike and everything is perfect at the moment, so I will keep focused and continue to take things day by day.”

As the 14th rider to take to Tuesday’s stage, Matthias Walkner had hoped to use it to his advantage and chase down the riders ahead. With the special shortened and times extremely close, despite his overall speed on the stage, Walkner was unable to retake as much time as he would have liked. However, making the minimum of mistakes, the 2021 FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Champion was able to steer his KTM 450 RALLY to the finish in 10th place, successfully defending his third-place position in the overall event standings.

Matthias Walkner – P10 on stage

“It was a really, really fast stage today. The guys in front did a good job of navigating, so even though we had some lines in the wet sand, it was hard to make up that much time. I’m lying third in the overall, but it’s still very early, so we’ll see what tomorrow brings.”

Hovering just outside the top 10 in the overall provisional classification after stage three is Ross Branch. Recording the 11th fastest time on the shortened stage, the Botswana native now advances to 11th in the general rankings and goes into stage four, the longest of the Dakar, with a highly favourable starting position.

Ross Branch – P11 on stage

“It was a really good day for me today. I was a little off the pace though, but not too far off. Navigation was pretty easy and everyone was close in times, but by finishing 11th it means I have good starting position for tomorrow. All in all, a good day, no mistakes, and I’m really happy with my riding. I just need to up the pace a little tomorrow and I’m looking forward to stage four.“

José Ignacio ‘Nacho’ Cornejo made a good recovery in the shortened special. The young Chilean continues to make notable progress, posting eleventh, a little over five minutes shy of the day’s winner. 

José Ignacio Cornejo – P12 on stage

“I’m happy with today’s stage. It was a long and entertaining one. The times were very tight, so you couldn’t make much of a difference, but it was possible to get a good position for tomorrow’s stage. I think it went well and I didn’t lose any time to the stage frontrunners, so we’ll try to make it up day by day focusing hard. We’ll see what’s in store for tomorrow, hopefully it will be more linear and more fluid and with a bit less navigation than yesterday.”

GASGAS Factory Racing’s Sam Sunderland opened the special after setting off in second place before a minor issue finding a waypoint caused him to lose a little bit of time. With all riders setting a similar pace, he ultimately placed 17th, just seven-and-a-half minutes behind the stage winner to retain the overall rally lead. 

Sam Sunderland – P17 on stage

“Today was very sandy, and very fast! I had a little bit of difficulty finding a waypoint, which allowed a few riders to catch up with me, so I knew I’d lost a bit of time there. But overall, it wasn’t too bad. We’re in for a really long stage tomorrow so starting further back is a good thing and I’m excited for a long day on the bike.”

Joan Barreda’s role as the day’s track-opener could have gone far worse for the Spanish rider who had been expected to drop considerable time compared to the frontrunners. By the end of the day Joan had only conceded ten-and-a-half minutes to the eventual stage winner. Bang Bang currently holds twelfth place, less than 24 minutes behind the overall rally leader. 

Joan Barreda – P24 on stage

“It was a good stage, I think I didn’t do too badly. I opened the entire special and I felt strong, with good navigation until about kilometre 200, where there was a waypoint in the dunes that took me a few minutes to validate. I think I lost about 10 minutes until the group arrived. In any case, I’m happy with the job done today.”

Pablo Quintanilla planned the day with tomorrow’s stage in mind, however, he dropped a fair amount of time to finish twenty-second, although holding on to an intermediate position in the general rankings close to his main rivals.

Pablo Quintanilla – P26 on stage

“A sandy stage, with a lot of dunes and some navigation. I pushed at the beginning with some good pace in case anyone made a mistake and I would be right there. The important thing will be tomorrow’s stage, and at the end of the day I realised that the bunch in front of me navigated well and I slowed down a bit, dropping a few minutes. Tomorrow will be the longest special stage of the rally and possibly one of the most difficult. We have a good position to attack tomorrow. We’ll see if we can make up a few minutes in the general standings.”

Suffering a technical issue yesterday, Tech3 KTM Factory Racing’s Danilo Petrucci was forced to withdraw from the stage. Returning to the team at the bivouac, the electrical problem was found and rectified, and the Italian rider was cleared to rejoin the race, although he will no longer feature in the event classification. Setting off 51st into today’s stage three, Petrucci immediately began fighting for a top-20 position, despite the traffic he had to encounter. A small mistake towards the end of the stage cost him a couple of minutes, but Danilo was able to hold on for an impressive 22nd place.

Danilo Petrucci – P22 on stage

“I’m really happy to be able to continue riding today after the issue I had yesterday. Yes, I’ve lost one stage, but it feels good to be racing again. I really enjoyed the stage today, the goal was just to get to the end, but it was very fast and really good fun. There were a lot of lines in the sand, but I still tried to read the roadbook and learn more in the way of my own navigation. I did make a couple of small mistakes, but it feels so good to be back on the bike. I have nine more stages to continue learning and I’m looking forward to it.”

Aussie privateer Andrew Houlihan was 113th on the stage and is now 112th outright.

Tomorrow’s Stage Four

The fourth stage will see the entire Dakar bivouac transfer to the Saudi Arabian capital, Riyadh. It will feature the longest special stage of the race, with 465 kilometres out of a total distance of 707 kilometres. From Al Qaisumah, riders and drivers will encounter a myriad of terrain types, each one more demanding than the previous: some 200 kilometres of fast track, dunes, rocks and stones and oueds – dry rivers crossings – which could cause some shake-ups in the general standings.

Dakar 2022 – Stage 3 Results

Dakar 2022 – Overall Standings after Stage 3

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Source: MCNews.com.au