Sainz wins the 3rd stage of the Dakar and takes the lead

La troisième étape de ce Dakar 2020 consistait en une boucle de 427 km autour de Neom. L’épreuve a été marquée par un duel au long cours entre les tenants du titre, Nasser Al-Attiyah-Mathieu Baumel (Toyota) et les vainqueurs 2018, Carlos Sainz-Lucas Cruz (Mini).

In the end, it was the Spanish crew who won by more than 3 minutes over the Franco-Qatari duo. “We finished the stage and it’s very good, is satisfied with Nasser Al-Attiyah. We are second and it's a good day, we had a puncture when we hit a big stone, but everything is fine. 

We are second in the general classification, and that is a good position. Tomorrow we will be behind Carlos to start the special and that’s pretty good. I'm waiting for the second week to attack. This is where there will be dunes. »

Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz took the opportunity to take control of the event. However, all is not rosy on the X-Raid team. Stéphane Peterhansel, who has difficulty understanding notes (in English) with his new teammate Paulo Fiuza, loses another 10' and finds himself left behind overall (5th at 19'). 

Another loser of the day, Giniel de Villiers (Toyota), winner on Monday, concedes more than a quarter of an hour! “The stage was difficult and opening the track didn’t help anything. We had to be careful this morning to take the right path. It was quite stressful because there were motorbikes coming back in the opposite direction. 

Nasser and Carlos caught up with me then Al Qassimi (Peugeot ) was the victim of a big crash right in front of us. We stopped to call the helicopter. The last part I followed, the navigation was difficult. The landscapes were very beautiful. »

# Dakar2020 is over for @khalidbinfaisal after a crash at km 298

Both him and his co-driver Xavier Panseri were conscious and up on their feet when the medical team attended them.

+ info https://t.co/qTNrMHIKg1# Dakar2020 pic.twitter.com/H0AqFbWpTY

- DAKAR RALLY (@dakar) January 7, 2020

Emirates driver Khalid Al Qassimi, associated with Frenchman Xavier Panseri, was indeed the victim of several rollovers when he had just entered the neutralization zone. The PH Sport crew gives up.

Finally, after its mechanical problems the day before, Fernando Alonso (Toyota) finished in the leading group. 

Dakar 2020 – Ranking Stage 3:

General classification :