The third special stage of the toughest race in the world began this morning with the riders aware that they could not have more than two hours of assistance at the end of the 438 timed km, and that this would have its weight. Some preferred not to take risks, but the favorites went in search of performance, as did Carlos Sainz, Nasser Al-Attiyah or Sebastien Loeb.
The Frenchman himself was one of those who had the most problems, since he declared, when he got out of his car, that he had suffered three punctures. As a result, the WRC legend lost almost half an hour, going from battling for stage victory to falling further behind the twenty fastest drivers of the day.
The French driver lost 23 minutes compared to Lucas Moraes, winner of the special with his Toyota, and now finds himself in ninth place in the general classification: “After the puncture we had to make a repair and this complicated things. We set off, but we had to stop every 20 kilometers to inflate the tyre, so we weren't very lucky with the tyres.”
“That's all, but at least we finished the stage, which was the main thing today. I lost 25 minutes, but it could have been worse, we'll see,” explained the nine-time world rally champion.
The Brazilian Lucas Moraes, who achieved his first success in the Dakar, expressed all his emotion, also thanking his navigator for the excellent work done today. “It was an incredible stage, but I have to say that it was thanks to Armand (Monleón) because the navigation was very complicated, and he was precise until the end. Then we never got a puncture”, explained Moraes as he got out of his Toyota after the third special stage of the 2024 Dakar, which placed him in fourth place in the general classification.
#Dakar #Loeb #held #punctures #worse
