Rally-Raid Portugal – Stage 3: Loeb extends his lead, Al-Attiyah retires

It was a day of many facets for Dacia. While Friday, March 20th, had all the makings of a day of celebration in Portugal, it was anything but a day of rest for Tiphanie Isnard's team. The biggest disappointment came from the retirement of Nasser Al-Attiyah and Fabian Lurquin, who stopped at kilometer 181 and were never able to restart. The Qatari driver, winner in 2024, will not repeat his victory and will now have to chase points in the two remaining stages to maintain his championship lead.

In contrast, it was a much more successful day for Lucas Moraes. The reigning world champion and his navigator Dennis Zenz secured their first victory with Dacia, outsprinting João Ferreira at the finish in Badajoz. The Portuguese rider, second overall at 1:16 after his victory on the first stage, finished ahead of Sébastien Loeb, third at 1:46. Thanks to a blistering end to the stage with his co-driver Édouard Boulanger, the nine-time world rally champion managed to gain 1:31 on Seth Quintero (Toyota). The American, who was the virtual overall leader for a long time, is now second, 1:27 behind Sébastien Loeb.

Lucas Moraes, for his part, capitalized on his stage victory to move back onto the overall podium (3rd, +1:34), benefiting from the time lost by South African Guy Botterill (Toyota), now fourth after starting Stage 3 as second overall. Second was also his position on the road, behind Sébastien Loeb, who struggled for much of the stage-opening role before making the difference at the end of the stage, despite the late charge of Quintero, Botterill, and Moraes.

In the Stock category, Stéphane Peterhansel secured a decisive victory and takes the overall lead ahead of Dakar winner and teammate Rokas Baciuska (+6:57). In the motorcycle category, Daniel Sanders (KTM) notched his second consecutive win and extends his overall lead to 3:11 over Tosha Schareina (Honda). Frenchman Adrien Van Beveren is fourth on his Honda, 5:31 behind the leader. He shares the exact same time as the third-placed rider, the impressive Bruno Santos on his Husqvarna Rally2.

The fourth and penultimate stage, a 317 km route between Badajoz and Loulé, will take place on Saturday, March 21.

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W2RC – Rally-Raid Portugal
Stage 3 ranking

The overall standings after Stage 3