The first sign from Toyota Gazoo Racing also arrives. In the third stage of the 2024 Dakar, the one that led from Al Duwadimi to Al Salamiya, the official team of the Japanese company brought home the first success thanks to the crew formed by Lucas Moraes and Armand Monleon.
The Brazilian, after the podium on his debut as a rookie in 2023, was one of the two drivers chosen by Toyota to make up for the departure of Nasser Al-Attiyah and today he quickly repaid the choice made a few months ago.
Moraes took the summit of the stage at kilometer 404 of the 438 timed kilometers, sprinting in the last stretch on a treacherous surface made slippery by stones and dirt. This was enough to get the better of the first Audi RS Q e-tron at the finish line, that of Mattias Ekstroem.
The Swede from the Ingolstadt official team finished in second place by just 9 seconds, an indication of how tight today's stage was. For the moment, the winning cars of the stages held so far in this Dakar have been two: the Audi RS Q e-tron and the Toyota GR Hulix T1U. Two cars made with very different philosophies, but equally competitive, a symptom of the good performance balance found in the top class of the Car category.
Third place for Yazeed Al Rajhi. This placement, just 69 seconds behind the stage winner and at the same time as Carlos Sainz's sixth fastest time, is very important because it allows him to overtake the Audi driver from Madrid and climb to the top of the general Car rankings. Furthermore, the Saudi is the first private rider in the stage and overall rankings: if he manages to remain regular for all the remaining stages, Al Rajhi will be a rider to keep an eye on not only for the podium, but also for victory.
Yesterday Nasser Al-Attiyah declared: “Tomorrow I will win!”. Today the Qatari from Prodrive did everything he could to keep his word, remaining in the lead of the stage until kilometer 404, but then Moraes, with his former car, overtook him at the most important moment. Ekstroem and Al Rajhi also did the same thing, relegating Nasser to fourth place ahead of Romain Dumas, an excellent fifth with the Toyota GR Hilux of the Rebellion Racing team. Al-Attiyah, however, was also slowed down by a left rear puncture that occurred a few kilometers from the end of the stage, arriving at the finish line on three wheels.
Carlos Sainz, sixth in the stage as mentioned, has lost the top of the general classification, but is still only 29 seconds behind Al Rajhi and tomorrow he could already try to regain the throne that he gave up today after a less brilliant start than that of Yesterday. The usual Mathieu Serradori, best driver of the Century Racing team, did very well, seventh ahead of the third official Audi RS Q e-tron, that of Mister Dakar, Stéphane Peterhansel.
Lithuanian Benediktas Vanagas, driver of the Toyota Gazoo Racing Baltics team, moved up to ninth place ahead of Vaidotas Zala, in the first MINI John Cooper Works run by the X-Raid Arijus team. Very difficult day for Seth Quintero, a young hopeful from Toyota Gazoo Racing, today well outside the Top P10 and almost 23 minutes behind the stage winner, his teammate Moraes.
Sébastien Loeb did worse, slightly slower than Quintero. The Frenchman, 9 times world rally champion, lost the podium in the general classification due to the difficult stage concluded today.
As for the general classification, Yazeed Al Rajhi rose to the top with a margin of 29 seconds over Carlos Sainz, while in third place is the second official Audi RS Q e-tron of an excellent Mattias Ekstroem at this start of Dakar . Thanks to today's victory, Lucas Moraes (Toyota Gazoo Racing) moved up to fourth place with a delay of just under 10 minutes, while the Top 5 is completed by Nasser Al-Attiyah, now the best Prodrive driver after Loeb's difficulties experienced today .
Sixth position for Stéphane Peterhansel, who is slowly climbing back up the slope, while Mathieu Serradori is seventh with the first Century ahead of Romain Dumas. Sébastien Loeb dropped to ninth place, 25 minutes behind Al Raljhi. Vaidotas Zala closes the Top 10.
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