Stage report
Dakar Dakar
Dakar 2021, Stage 3: Al-Attiyah closes gap to Peterhansel
Toyota’s Nasser Al-Attiyah nearly halved the deficit to Stephane Peterhansel after claiming a second successive stage victory in Tuesday’s third test of Dakar Rally.
Rachit Thukral
Edited: Jan 5, 2021, 5:59 PM
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Three-time winner Al-Attiyah was left on the backfoot when he lost 12 minutes to the leaders in the opening stage on Sunday but, after gaining three minutes back in Stage 2, the Qatari driver has narrowed the deficit to just five minutes with an emphatic victory in the 406km loop around Wadi Ad-Dawasir.
Fellow Toyota driver Henk Lategan, Overdrive’s Yazeed Al Rajhi and X-raid Mini star Carlos Sainz all took turns leading the Stage 3, before Al-Attiyah asserted his authority at the fourth waypoint to snatch the top spot.
Setting the fastest time at each of the remaining waypoints, Al-Attiyah eventually finished the stage 2ms27s clear of Lategan, as Peterhansel ended up four minutes down in third after suffering a puncture early on.
Century driver Yasir Seaidan and Khalid Al Qassimi (Abu Dhabi Racing Peugeot) were classified fourth and fifth respectively, both breaking inside the overall top 10 at the end of the day.
Nine-time WRC champion Sebastien Loeb (Bahrain Raid Xtreme) continued his recovery drive after a nightmare start to his fifth Dakar outing, finishing sixth fastest to grab the same place in the general classifications.
With two strong stage finishes in a row, the Frenchman now sits just over a minute adrift of fifth-placed driver Jakub Przygonski of Overdrive, but 45 minutes behind leader Peterhansel.
Loeb’s former WRC teammate Carlos Sainz suffered a disastrous day in the second of the two Mini buggies, the Spanish driver losing over 30 minutes after going off the course 156km into the special and then suffering a puncture.
Finishing 19th in the day’s provisional classifications, Sainz has dropped to fourth overall behind top Century driver Mathieu Serradori, who finished eighth fastest on Tuesday behind Martin Prokop (Benzina Ford).
The top 10 in the overall classification was completed by Lategan (seventh), Seaidan, (eight), Al Qassimi (ninth) and Prokop (10th).
Elsewhere, Bernhard Ten Brinke’s Overdrive-run Toyota suffered serious damage after it rolled over 10km after the penultimate waypoint. Both Ten Brinke and co-driver Tom Colsoul escaped the incident without any injuries and are awaiting the arrival of the assistance team at the time of writing.
Standings after Stage 3 (Top 10 only):
Pos
Driver
Car
Time/Gap
1
Stephane Peterhansel
Mini
10hr39m02s
2
Nasser Al-Attiyah
Toyota
5m09s
3
Mathieu Serradori
Century
26m21s
4
Carlos Sainz
Mini
33m34s
5
Jakub Przygonski
Toyota
44m22s
6
Sebastien Loeb
BRX
45m49s
7
Henk Lategan
Toyota
47m25s
8
Yasir Seaidan
Century
51m50s
9
Khalid Al Qassimi
Peugeot
52m08s
10
Martin Prokop
Ford
56m30s
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Previous article Dakar 2021, Stage 3: Price wins again, Howes takes lead
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