Nine-time WRC champion Sebastien Loeb continues his lead in his maiden Dakar rally with the help of his Peugeot 2008 DKR. Again, due to poor weather conditions the sage had to be shortened, this time only by 38 km. The truck segment has been suspended completely.
Loeb was able to reach the first control point 42 seconds faster than teammate Carlos Sainz giving the Peugeot team an early lead. Nasser Al-Attiyah followed Loeb to the second control point with a 27 second gap as Sainz fell farther behind.
The final result of the stage saw Loeb as the victor with a time of 2h 09m 39s giving him an overall lead of 5m 03s from South African Giniel de Villiers and his Hilux who finished fourth in today’s stage behind Al-Attiyah.
The final point also saw Sainz to reclaim the second spot, bringing him to an overall 10th place after suffering difficulties during the second stage.
Mikko Hirvonen, former WRC competitor piloting the second Mini, managed to claim a spot in the top five, 2m 49s behind Loeb.
The third Peugeot driven by Stephane Peterhansel claimed the sixth position with Cyril Despres taking the 10th spot.
2016 Dakar Rally Stage Three Results
CARS
- Sébastien Loeb, Peugeot 02:09:39
- Carlos Sainz, Peugeot +00:01:23
- Nasser Al-Attiyah, Mini +00:01:25
- Giniel de Villiers, Toyota +00:02:02
- Mikko Hirvonen,, Mini +00:02:49
- V Stephane Peterhansel , Peugeot +00:02:52
- Leeroy Poulter, Toyota +00:03:03
- Bernhard Ten Brink, Toyota +00:03:49
- Yazeed Alrajhi, Toyota +00:04:54
- Cyril Despres, Peugeot +00:05:47
2016 Dakar Rally Overall Ranking
CARS
- Sébastien Loeb, Peugeot 06:01:42
- Giniel de Villiers, Toyota +00:05:03
- Stéphane Peterhansel, Peugeot +00:05:15
- Mikko Hirvonen , Mini+00:05:52
- Nasser Al-Attiyah, Mini +00:06:39
- Leeroy Poulter, Toyota +00:06:43
- Bernhard Ten Brink, Toyota +00:08:42
- Vladimir Vasilyev , Toyota +00:09:55
- Cyril Despres, Peugeot +00:10:47
- Carlos Sainz, Peugeot +00:12:20
