– Cyril Despres in sixth place
– Problems for Carlos Sainz
Having endured a tough time yesterday, Stéphane Peterhansel and David Castera (both FRA) were able to claim their first daily win together on today’s third stage from Marcona to Arequipa. Cyril Despres and Jean-Paul Cottret (both FRA) crossed the line in sixth place. Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz (both ESP) were all out of luck today after damaging the front left suspension in a ditch.
They both had to wait for the race truck and are still out on the stage.
Everything went according to plan today for Peterhansel and Castera. The two Frenchmen started in 17th place, working their way up in the MINI JCW Buggy to embark on a tough battle for victory against Nasser Al-Attiyah. After 342 stage kilometers, they finished over three minutes ahead. « It was a complicated day today, » confirmed Peterhansel. « We had to deal with every type of surface that you can find in Peru. Navigation was also very difficult, with a lot of high, soft dunes that are not so easy to deal with. It was easy to make a mistake but David did a very good job. We work well together. » The two Frenchmen are now in third place in the overall standings.
The day may not have been without its challenges for Despres and Cottret but claiming sixth place allows them to move up to sixth position in the overall standings. « It was a lovely stage to start with: navigation was fine and we did well over the dunes, » said Despres. « But then we were looking for a GPS point that was not marked at the correct kilometer in the roadbook. There were motorbikes everywhere and we had to really take care with the car. »
After the special stage, the crews still had to spend a few hours on the connecting stage to Arequipa. Today, the mechanics and engineers must prepare the cars for the next two days. The marathon stage is scheduled for tomorrow evening and the drivers and co-drivers will have to do without the support of their teams.
Rally Dakar – Result SS3
1. Stéphane Peterhansel (FRA) / David Castera (FRA) MINI JCW Buggy – 3h 54m 31s
2. Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT) / Mathieu Baumel (FRA) Toyota – 3h 57m 57s
3. Kuba Przygonski (POL) / Tom Colsoul (BEL) MINI JCW Rally – 4h 06m 18s
4. Nani Roma (ESP) / Alex Haro (ESP) MINI JCW Rally – 4h 07m 21s
5. Yazeed Al-Rajhi (SAU) / Timo Gottschalk (GER) MINI JCW Rally – 4h 12m 43s
6. Cyril Despres (FRA) / Jean-Paul Cottret (FRA) MINI JCW Buggy – 4h 22m 35s
7. Bernhard Ten Brinke (NLD) / Xavier Panseri (FRA) Toyota – 4h 26m 16s
8. Aron Domzala (POL) / Maciej Marton (POL) Toyota – 4h 27m 47s
9. Martin Prokop (CZE) / Jan Tomanek (POL) Ford – 4h 29m 10s
10. Benediktas Vanagas (LTU) / Sebastian Rozwadowski (POL) Toyota – 4h 33m 55s…
tbd. Carlos Sainz (ESP) / Lucas Cruz (ESP) MINI JCW Buggy – tbd.
Rally Dakar – Overall result after SS3
1. Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT) / Mathieu Baumel (FRA) Toyota – 8h 34m 08s
2. Yazeed Al-Rajhi (SAU) / Timo Gottschalk (GER) MINI JCW Rally – 8h 40m 56s
3. Stéphane Peterhansel (FRA) / David Castera (FRA) MINI JCW Buggy – 8h 41m 11s
4. Nani Roma (ESP) / Alex Haro (ESP) MINI JCW Rally – 8h 46m 10s
5. Kuba Przygonski (POL) / Tom Colsoul (BEL) MINI JCW Rally – 8h 47m 53s
6. Cyril Despres (FRA) / Jean-Paul Cottret (FRA) MINI JCW Buggy – 8h 58m 48s
7. Bernhard Ten Brinke (NLD) / Xavier Panseri (FRA) Toyota – 8h 59m 29s
8. Sebastien Loeb (FRA) / Daniel Elena (FRA) Peugeot – 9h 12m 07s
9. Aron Domzala (POL) / Maciej Marton (POL) Toyota – 9h 17m 04s
10. Benediktas Vanagas (LTU) / Sebastian Rozwadowski (POL) Toyota – 9h 23m 28s…
tbd. Carlos Sainz (ESP) / Lucas Cruz (ESP) MINI JCW Buggy – tbd.