– Paulo Goncalves out of contention for the top spot
– Sebastian Buhler continues his stellar run, C S Santosh holds it steady
The third stage of Dakar Rally took the competitors for a circuit around the megacity of Neom for a special stage of 404 kms towards the border with Jordan. The stage offered a series of canyons and mountains to explore on a carpet of sand and also touched the highest point of this Dakar, at an altitude of 1,400 metres.
It was a day to forget for Hero MotoSports Team Rally as they met with another major setback in their campaign with Paulo Goncalves out of contention for a top spot. He was left stranded at about 30 kms into the stage due to a technical issue in the bike. He had to wait until another competitor in the Trucks category, No. 536, run by Cabini and his team, showed real Dakar spirit by helping in bringing the replacement parts to Paulo because according to the rules, he could only be helped by another competitor. He managed to replace the complete engine himself and resumed the stage again. At the time of reporting, he had finished the stage and was on the liaison section to reach the bivouac, epitomising the unrelenting nature of the Dakar spirit,. The good news is that he is still alive in the rally to record his overall rankings and fight for the stage results. However, losing this much time today means that a top finish in this edition of the Dakar seems practically out of the reach.
On the brighter side, the rising young star Sebastian Buhler continued with his stellar run and gained more positions today. This is his third consecutive stage where he has made significant gains to finish in 20th place today and moved to 23rd position in the overall rankings. His other team mate C S Santosh also continued to battle it out there in another tough stage, and arrived safely at the finish line in 50th place. Today’s gritty performance places him at 44th place in the overall rankings at the end of the stage 3.
Joaquim Rodrigues, continued on his Dakar adventure and rode with ease to gain several positions from his start today to finish the stage in 31st position.
With the team’s top two riders out of contention for the top spots, the team’s hopes are now pinned on the young shoulder of Buhler and the experience of Santosh to step up to the challenge and take the team across the finish line at Riyadh.
In the stage 4 of the Rally, competitors will move to the historic old town Al-Ula after covering 676 kms, including the special of 453 kms.
Sebastian Buhler (Comp No: 32) said, « I enjoyed the today’s stage a lot. It has very nice fast tracks and the bike was also running perfectly. At around 400km there was a waypoint that was very difficult to find. A lot of riders got confused there and lost time. Overall, I think I am riding good and hope to continue in the same way. »
CS Santosh (Comp No: 50) said, « Today was a long stage full of dust. There were mini-canyons that were really dusty but after that the track really opened up and I got into a good rhythm and pace to catch up a few guys in front of me. Just before the refuelling point I lost my way a bit and lost some time in getting back on track. I made a few mistakes today but happy to make it to the finish. It’s still a long way to the finish and I am hoping to find a good rhythm in the upcoming stages. »
Paulo Goncalves (Comp No. 8) said, « It was a really difficult day for me today. At around 30 kms into the stage, my bike stopped and I could not get it started. I had to wait a long time before I got the replacement parts and fixed the bike to finally get moving again. I know I have lost a lot of time, my chances of fighting for a top position for my team are over. It is an unfortunate situation and all of us are sad after the good work the team had put in through the year. But this is the Dakar and anything can happen here. Now my goal is to try and make some good stage results for the team and help my teammates Santosh and Buhler to finish what we all started. »
Joaquim Rodrigues (Comp No. 27) said, « Well for me now the race is all about taking the experience for myself and help my teammates to finish the race. Today we had a difficult waypoint where I saw everyone going around to find it. I thought my navigation was correct but when I reached there it wasn’t there. Anyhow, it doesn’t matter much for me as I am not in contention but it feels good to know that my instincts were right. »
Provisional Stage 3 Rankings
1. Ricky Brabec, Monster Energy Honda Racing, 03h 29m 31s
2. Jose Ignacio Cornejo, Monster Energy Honda Racing, +05m 56s
3. Kevin Benavides, Monster Energy Honda Racing, +07m 22s…
20. Sebastian Buhler, Hero MotoSports Team Rally, +27m 41s…
31. Joaquim Rodrigues, Hero MotoSPorts Team Rally, +31m 03s…
50. C S Santosh, Hero MotoSports Team Rally, +01h 17m 02s…
– Paulo Goncalves, Hero MotoSports Team Rally, Not yet available
Provisional Overall Rankings after Stage 3
1. Ricky Brabec, Monster Energy Honda Racing, 10h 39m 04s
2. Kevin Benavides, Monster Energy Honda Racing, +04m 43s
3. Matthias Walkner, RedBull KTM Racing, +06m 02s…
23. Sebastian Buhler, Hero MotoSports Team Rally, +01h 12m 07s…
44. C S Santosh, Hero MotoSports Team Rally, +03h 10m 43s…
– Paulo Goncalves, Hero MotoSports Team Rally, Not yet available
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