Toyota Gazoo Racing SA’s Nasser Al-Attiyah dominated the third stage of Dakar 2018 in his Hilux, bouncing back from problems on Stage 2.
The result saw the Qatari driver climb to third overall, with Peugeot’s Stéphane Peterhansel leading the standings and teammate Cyril Despreas in second.
Starting in seventh place, Al-Attiyah made up time through the 296 km special stage, despite having to deal with two punctures.
“If it weren’t for the punctures, we would’ve been in an even stronger position,” Al-Attiyah said. “But even so we are happy with today’s result, and we are now right back in the fight.”
Peugeot drivers Peterhansel, Carlos Sainz, Despres and Sebastien Loeb followed Al-Attiyah, while South Africa’s Giniel de Villiers (also in a Toyota Gazoo Racing SA Hilux) had to settle for sixth place. This result sees De Villiers fall to fifth overall.
“We had a strong start, and quickly caught up with Sebastien Loeb, who started three minutes ahead of us. This clearly showed that we had some pace, but Loeb’s dust made it tricky for us,” De Villiers said.
“In the end, there were some tricky spots, and we decided to back off a bit in the dust. Maybe we were too cautious, but we’re still very much in touch with the race, and there’s a lot of racing to come.”
South Africa’s Hennie de Klerk in his South Racing Volkswagen Amarok finished Stage 3 in 41st place, putting him in 31st position overall. Lucio Alvarez, with South African navigator Rob Howie beside him in a Hilux, posted the tenth-fastest time on the third stage, moving to 29th overall.
Stage 3:
- Nasser Al Attiyah (Toyota) 03:09:08
- Stéphane Peterhansel (Peugeot) +04:05
- Carlos Sainz (Peugeot) +06:07
- Cyril Despres (Peugeot) +07:43
- Sebastien Loeb (Peugeot) +08:34
- Giniel De Villiers (Toyota) +10:11
- Bernhard Ten Brinke (Toyota) +18:07
- Martin Prokop (Ford) +18:56
- Jakub Przygonski (Mini) +22:42
- Lucio Alvarez (Toyota) +23:01
Overall:
- Stéphane Peterhansel (Peugeot) 06:34:58
- Cyril Despreas (Peugeot) +03:11
- Nasser Al Attiyah (Toyota) +07:43
- Sebastien Loeb (Peugeot) +10:11
- Giniel De Villiers (Toyota) +11:3
- Carlos Sainz (Peugeot) +14:4
- Bernhard Ten Brinke (Toyota) +31:18
- Orlando Terranova (Mini) +35:19
- Martin Prokop (Ford) +38:56
- Nani Roma (Mini) +42:56