Jean Turner | January 5, 2016
As storms continue to ravage the northern Argentina area, race organizers were once again forced to shorten today’s stage in the Dakar Rally. The Stage 3 special was abbreviated from 195 miles (314 km) to 118 miles (190 km), and once again required very little navigation. Still, riders braved the muddy conditions and slippery mountain roads as they headed toward Jujuy, Argentina.
The terrain wasn’t the only thing muddied in Dakar today, as Stage 3 results and overall standings became unclear following initial press releases. After a triumphant day by the Honda HRC team, with red riders Joan Barreda, Kevin Benavides and Paulo Goncalves finishing 1, 2, 3 in provisional standings, news later broke of a one-minute penalty issued to Barreda. As a result of the penalty, Barreda slid from first to fifth in Stage 3 ranking, and from first place to third in the overall. Updated standings indicate Benavides as the winner of the Stage 3, and Stefan Svitko of Slovakia as the overall leader of the Dakar Rally.
Several other riders also incurred penalties (likely the result of speed infractions), including Husqvarna’s Pablo Quintanilla and KTM rider Oliver Pain, each with one-minute penalties. Sherco rider Juan Pedrero was penalized two minutes, and factory Yamaha rider Alessandro Botturi received a three-minute penalty.
Regardless of the Dakar Rally penalties, the day was still a measurable success for the HRC team, and an improvement for Barreda in particular. After having to lead the way in Stage 2, Barreda enjoyed a seventh-place start today, and managed to advance in the overall standings with his third-place finish.
“Today was a great day after yesterday,” said Joan Barreda. “Today we started from behind which gave us a good position to attack from. It was an easy day without navigation and all the tracks were close. The important thing is to be there, always fighting with the first group and waiting for the most difficult stages.”
On the flip side, it was a somewhat disappointing day for the KTM squad. Yesterday’s leader Toby Price looked to keep his momentum rolling, but ran into difficulty in Stage 3, finishing 37th on the day and slipping to ninth overall.
“For sure, today was a good way to open the tack, but you had to be really careful,” said Price. “There were a lot of animals and a lot of people on the track today. I had a few close calls with some people. It was safer to back it down a little today and put ourselves in a good position for tomorrow and we’ll go from there.”
The Red Bull KTM team also reported Price having difficulty with his GPS early in the special test. More bad luck came for the orange team when Laia Sanz had a minor crash. Fortunately she was still able to finish the stage in a respectable 18th place.
American rider Ricky Brabec is remaining steadfast in the rally, carding a 14th place finish today and now sitting 22nd overall. “Today was just like yesterday,” Brabec said. “It was really fast and hard to make up a lot of time, but easy to lose a lot of time again. Today was awesome. The roads were good, the spectators were good and the navigation wasn’t that tricky. I rode well and I’m happy with my finish.”
American riders Alexander Smith and Ian Blythe are speeding right along, with Blythe finishing 44th in Stage 3 and Smith carding a much improved 57th place finish. Smith has his work cut out for him in the overall standings, however, as he is working to overcome an eight-minute penalty.
In the scope of the overall rally, very little has been lost or gained at this point. Stage 3 results show the top-20 all within five minutes of each other, and in the overall, the top 16 remain within 10 minutes of each other. Riders agree that the specials thus far have been “easy with no navigation,” and are eagerly anticipating the more difficult stages to come.
“At the moment it’s zero navigation and I’m just trying to get a good rhythm and try not to lose too much time,” explained Red Bull KTM Factory rider Jordi Viladoms. “I’m just not so good in these kind of stages so I need to be patient and wait for the more difficult ones.”
“Five or six minutes behind is virtually nothing,” Toby Price agreed. “We’ve just got to stay there during the first week and then we’ll start pushing hard during the second week. I’m not disappointed at all. We’re in a good position and I’m happy.”
A more difficult stage is likely in store for riders tomorrow, as Stage 4 is the first half of a marathon stage where riders cannot receive any outside tech support. Weather permitting, riders will take on a long loop around Jujuy with a 266-mile (429 km) special test taking them to staggering heights of over 13,000 feet in the Andes Mountains. Currently, weather forecast calls for an 80% chance of rain and thunderstorms in the area.
Dakar Rally Stage 3 Results
- Kevin Benavides (Hon) 2:31:03
- Paulo Goncalves (Hon)+0:26
- Antoine Meo (KTM) +0:27
- Stefan Svitko (KTM) +0:31
- Joan Barreda (Hon) +0:34
- Adrein Van Beveren (Yam) +1:36
- Farres Guell (KTM) +1:46
- Pablo Quintanilla (Hus) +1:52
- Alain Duclos (Shr) +1:55
- Matthias Walkner (KTM) +2:26
- Ricky Brabec (Hon) +3:41
- Laia Sanz (KTM) +4:08
- Toby Price (KTM) +7:41
- Ian Blythe (KTM) +11:27
- Alexander Smith (Hus) +18:40
- Scott Bright (KTM) +22:12
- C.R. Gittere (Hus) +26:25
Dakar Rally Overall Ranking after Stage 3
- Stefan Svitko (KTM) 6:27:04
- Kevin Benavides (Hon) +0:34
- Joan Barreda (Hon) +0:46
- Paulo Goncalves (Hon) +0:54
- Alain Duclos (Shr) +0:56
- Mattias Walkner (KTM) +1:33
- Pablo Quintanilla (Hus) +3:24
- Ruben Faria (Hus) +3:43
- Toby Price (KTM) +4:49
- Juan Pedrero (Shr) +6:19
- Laia Sanz (KTM) +12:50
- Ricky Brabec (Hon) +14:13
- Ian Blythe (KTM) +42:32
- Alexander Smith (Hus) +1:01:05
- Scott Bright (KTM) +1:08:14
- C.R. Gittere (Hus) +1:31:04