Drama galore

Stage 3 provided plenty of drama for the frontrunners. Defending champ Carlos Sainz broke his suspension 38 km into the stage. The Spaniard stopped for 3 hours and 15 minutes. The overall leader after stage 2, Giniel de Villiers damaged his Hilux after hitting a rock. His Hilux spent over two hours waiting for assistance.

Stephane Peterhansel (X-Raid Mini JCW Team) showed why he has 13 Dakar Rally wins to his name. He took the early lead and went on to win the stage by 3 min 26 from Nasser Al-Attiyah who won stage 1. Peterhansel climbed from 13th place in the overall standings to third overall. Jakub Przygonski/Tom Colsoul (Orlen X-Raid Team) finished third on the stage.

Taking the lead

Al-Attiyah now leads the overall standings (Read more about the SA-entered team here) from Yazeed Al-Rajhi/Timo Gottschalk (Mini)

Check out the official Dakar YouTube channel for a video review of the day.

1 Nasser Al-Attiyah/Mathieu Baumel Toyota 8 hr 34 min 08 sec

2 Yazeed Al-Rajhi/Timo Gottschalk Mini 4×4 +6 min 48 sec

3 Stephane Peterhansel/David Castera Mini +7 min 03

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4 Nani Roma/Alex Haro Bravo Mini +12 min 02 sec

5 Jakub Przygonski/Tom Colsoul Orlen X-Raid Team 13 min 45 sec

6 Cyril Despres/Jean-Paul Cottret Mini Buggy +24 min 40 sec

7 Bernhard ten Brinke/Xavier Panseri Toyota +25 min 21 sec

8 Sebastien Loeb/Daniel Elena Peugeot +37 min 59 sec

9 Aron Domzala/Maciej Marton Toyota +42 min 56 sec

10 Benediktas Vanagas/Sebastian Rozwadowski Team Pitlane +49 min 20 sec