VIDEO. Cars stuck in a swollen river on stage 3 of the Dakar 2023

The third stage of Dakar Rally 2023, contested between Al Ula and Ha'il (Saudi Arabia) this Tuesday, January 3, was interrupted due to torrential rains at the end of the course. Unfortunately, competitors did not have the chance to stop before negotiating the flooded areas.

This is the case of two light prototypes entered in the T3 category, and not the least. Victorious in the prologue and champion of Extreme E with Sébastien Loeb last month, Cristina Gutiérrez (Can-Am) lost 1h14' in this swollen torrent. His co-pilot Pablo Moreno even fell into the river; while trying to connect the Can-Am to a truck on the other bank, the Spaniard did not see that his partner had put into reverse.

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Another challenger for the category victory on this Dakar 2023, Francisco Lopez, aka Chaleco Lopez (Can-Am) spent 1h10' in the same place. Both drivers can thank the crews of trucks No. 508 (Ales Loprais-Petr Pokora-Jaroslav Valtr Jr) and No. 506 (Martin van den Brink-Rijk Mouw-Erik Kofman), who assisted them during the race.

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Cristina Gutiérrez (@cris_tortu)

" It was horrible, said Cristina Gutiérrez once she returned to the bivouac in one piece. It was very dangerous, I couldn't get out of this ford and I thought the car was going to roll over because I was stuck in a hole. The pictures speak for themselves, because I can't say more. »