The third stage of the 2024 Dakar saw a succession of events, such as Lucas Moraes' first victory in the special stage, or the wave of penalties in the motorcycle category, in which it was Kevin Benavides who ultimately took the victory, to the detriment of Pablo Quintanilla and Joan Barreda.
However, as both categories share the same route, many vehicles passed each other during the 438 timed kilometres, and there was even a moment when it even came to a collision. It was Tim Coronel who hit Philippe Gendron and his bike, and in the impact he also damaged the windscreen of his car, creating visibility problems for the rest of the stage.
All this was revealed in a video uploaded by his brother and co-pilot Tom Coronel, in which he explained what happened: “My goodness. A difficult stage, two punctures, and look at this (the windshield broken by the impact). It was a motorbike who was coming in the opposite direction to the one we were on. We asked him if he was okay, and he was okay. We checked that he was really okay, then he left on his motorbike.”
“We had a lot of problems in the last 20 kilometres, but we finished the stage and now we have to go to the bivouac”, said the Dutchman during the recording he himself made, in which the French motorcyclist was seen again, and to which he apologized for what happened in the race.
The two Coronels finished the third stage in 48th place, which led them to the two-hour assistance available in Al Salamiya, while Philippe Gendron placed in 77th place after successfully completing the special stage despite the accident that broke the Dutchmen's front windshield.
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