Stage three of the 2024 Dakar sees another factory Honda rider place first in the special. Over the 438 km from Al Duwadimi to Al Salamiya it was Chilean rider Pablo Quintanilla who came out on top aboard the CRF450 Rally, benefitting from the time adjustment that allowed him to make up 3'33'' after starting first, which gave him a seventh career stage win.

The HRC rider was followed by Spaniard Joan Barreda Bort, who scores his best stage result since switching to team Hero, while the day’s podium is rounded out by Kevin Benavides with the KTM, who gritted his teeth despite physical problems. American Ricky Brabec places fourth with his Honda, for a top four that finishes within two minutes of each other after more than four and a half hours of racing.

Branch retains the overall lead, Sunderland retires

Fifth in today’s stage, Ross Branch maintains his lead in the general standings after a special that caused problems for many. Daniel Sanders lost 11 minutes, Luciano Benavides 13, Skyler Howes 22 and Toby Price as many as 26, time that will be hard to make up over the coming days, despite the race being far from over. That said, the HRC and KTM riders lost time after they attended to German Sebastian Bühler after a crash; they will both receive a bonus of approximately 18 minutes which will put them back inside the Top 10.

One rider who won’t see the finish, for the second consecutive year, is Sam Sunderland. Since winning the 2022 edition (his second career win, in the year he also became W2RC World Champion), he’s been unable to complete a Rally Raid. This time it was down to his factory GASGAS bike, with technical problems ruling him out after just 11 km of special stage.

Mason Klein also had problems. After losing more than two hours during the second stage, this time he had to deal with some technical issues with his Kove, which means he waves goodbye to his dreams of glory. As for the Italians, Paolo Lucci again leads the way, with the BAS Dakar Racing KTM rider finishing just outside the Top 20 and proving to be one of the frontrunners in the Rally2 class.