Yesterday’s third stage of the 2013 Dakar was off to a controversial start as Spaniard Carlos Sainz and German Timo Gottschalk were awarded a stage win after falling foul of the organiser’s satellites and finishing out of the top ten. Their advantage meant nothing when the duo suffered more electronic failure and relinquished the lead to Red Bull Qatar teammates Nasser Al-Attiyah and Lucas Cruz.
Known for his prowess in the dunes, Al-Attiyah’s pace during stage 3’s 243 km of sandy terrain between Pisco and Nazca eclipsed all. The Qatari and his Spanish co-driver had a relatively pain-free day, the win securing second overall in their buggy.
“We won the stage and clawed four minutes back from Stéphane (Peterhansel). And it could have been even better, but we stopped for a couple of minutes to help Carlos. It looked like he was having problems with the electronics and the engine cut-out, and since we couldn’t do anything to about it, we kept going and didn’t see any more cars until the finish line,” the Qatari said.
Americans Robby Gordon and Kellon Walch began the task of clawing their way back into title contention today, with their Hummer seemingly at home on the dunes as well. Their second place finish and lead over defending champion Stéphane Peterhansel’s Mini X-Raid saw them in 13th overall and 46 minutes off the Frenchman’s lead.
“We started very far back this morning but we caught and overtook loads of cars, so it was a good day for us. We needed to do this, but we also needed to take time back from Stéphane, on whom I’m clearly focusing my race, and we only clawed back just over 2 minutes,” Gordon reflected after the stage.
Peterhansel and compatriot Jean-Paul Cottret managed to keep Al-Attiyah and Gordon in check, by keeping the gap within four minutes, and retaining their overall lead. Argentinians Lucio Alvarez and Bernado Graue finished fourth, while Spaniard Joan Roma and Frenchman Michel Périn brought their Mini X-raid home in fifth position, 12 minutes 20 seconds behind the leaders.
South African Giniel de Villiers and German co-driver Dirk von Zitzewitz suffered a serious setback that dropped them down the order to sixth overall. “ Today was anything but good for us! It wasn’t the car’s fault, it’s just that we made a huge navigational mistake which added almost 20 km to our tally. It got so bad that Dirk had to get out several times to see where we were and what direction we had to take. ,” de Villiers admitted.
Toyota Imperial teammates Duncan Vos and Rob Howie, only managed to bring their Hilux in 1 hour 26 minutes behind Al-Attiyah, dropping to 25th overall. Fellow South Africans Johan van Staden and Mike Lawrenson finished 2 hours 24 minutes off the lead. In the bike category, Darryl Curtis is keeping the leaders in sight and is only 11 minutes off the pace, while Riaan van Niekerk is a further 12 minutes off in 25th overall. Brett Cumming, in 75th, is 1 hour 33 minutes behind. In the quad class, Sarel van Biljon is ninth overall, but is just over an hour off the pace.
A half-hour Dakar highlights package will be screened on SuperSport2 (DStv channel 202) at 22:00 every day, with five repeats the following day, from January 5.
