– Branch continues at the overall top spot for the 3rd consecutive day
Hero MotoSports Team Rally, the motorsport team of the world’s largest manufacturer of motorcycles and scooters – Hero MotoCorp, completed the third Stage of Dakar 2024, maintaining their steady pace.
Rally GP Class rider Ross Branch finished Stage 03 in the 5th fastest time, followed by Joan Barreda in the 15th place. Following an unfortunate crash, Sebastian Buhler was forced to retire from the race today.
Stage 3 was an equally long and tiring day like in the previous stage, a 733 km long ride from Al Duwadimi to Al Salamiya. The 438 km long timed special was lined with stony tracks in wadis, sandy tracks through rocks, some very fast tracks, hills, dunes & canyons.
In the first half of the race, all Hero riders were in the top 5 to 10 positions consistently. Overall leader of the Dakar 2024 for the 3rd consecutive day – Ross Branch – continued his consistent performance in the third stage as well. Even though he made a couple of navigational mistakes, the Botswanan managed to improve his overall lead to a little over 3 minutes above the 2nd place holder. In spite of a tough day in the desert, Joan Barreda showcased a fantastic pace all through the stage and was consistently in the top-5 places. If not for a speeding penalty, he would have finished in the 2nd place today. In the overall Rally GP class rankings, Joan has moved one spot up to the 11th place.
For Sebastian Buhler, the German living in Portugal, Dakar 2024 was quite promising with consistent progress across the last few days. He finished just outside the podium in Stage 2, and was riding strong within the top-10 spots today. At around 360 kms into Stage 3, he met with a heavy crash, injuring his back. Fellow competitors Toby Price and Skyler Howes stopped to help him, and he was airlifted to the nearest hospital. First checks luckily did not show severe injuries, hence he is expected to recover and join the team soon. However, he exits Dakar 2024 as Rally GP Class competitors are not allowed to continue in the race if they do not finish a Stage.
Stage 3 is also part of a semi-marathon stage, where competitors will spend the night in a different bivouac away from the rest of their teams. The assistance crews were allowed to service the bikes for only 2 hours at the end of the stage, post which the riders and bikes went to the marathon bivouac in Al Salamiya. The bikes are entered into a parc fermé for the night, and the riders will meet with the rest of their teams only at the end of Stage 4 in Al Hofuf.
Continuing the grand desert odyssey further eastward, Stage 4 will take the competitors on yet another long, hard slog of 632 kms from Al Salamiya to Al Hofuf. Even though the terrain is expected to be faster in this route, the road book instructions are touted to be confusing, and “any error in this regard will definitely come with a hefty price.
Ross Branch: « It was in fact a really weird stage for me. In the morning I was doing very well, but then ended up making some navigational errors and lost time with a particular waypoint. I’m happy however to be here in one piece. I hope my teammate Sebastian will get better soon, it was disheartening to see him lying on the side of the road injured. My thoughts are with him. »
Joan Barreda: « It was a really tough stage today. We had to put in a lot of effort for so many hours to stay in the race. Happy to finish, but I feel so tired. I had some problems again with the speed radar today, but I hope to recover the time lost and continue stronger in the race. I feel so bad for Basti, I saw him lying on the ground after his crash. I hope it’s nothing too serious, and we will work together to get back to shape soon. »
Sebastian Buhler: « Unfortunately, I had a really bad crash at around 360 kms into the Stage. I was flown into the hospital, and after scans it looks like there are only some minor fissures. It is very unfortunate, but I consider myself lucky to be in a good condition now. A big thanks to Toby Price and Skyler Howes who stopped by to help me. Thank you to everyone who has been sending their support as well. Good luck to BangBang and Rossi for the rest of the Dakar! »
Provisional Rankings – Stage 3 (Rally GP Class)
1. Kevin Benavides, RedBull KTM Factory Racing, 04h 39m 28s
2. Ricky Brabec , Monster Energy Honda Team, + 1m 11s
3. Adrien Van Beveren, Monster Energy Honda Team, + 2m 51s
5. Ross Branch, Hero MotoSports Team Rally, + 3m 18s…
13. Joan Barreda Bort, Hero MotoSports Team Rally, + 11m 52s…
DNF Sebastian Buhler, Hero MotoSports Team Rally.
Provisional Overall Rankings – at the end of Stage 3 (Rally GP Class)
1. Ross Branch, Hero MotoSports Team Rally, 14h 32m 51s
2. Ignacio Cornejo, Monster Energy Honda Team, + 3m 11s
3. Ricky Brabec, Monster Energy Honda Team, + 5m 08s…
11. Joan Barreda Bort, Hero MotoSports Team Rally, + 37m 30s…
DNF Sebastian Buhler, Hero MotoSports Team Rally.