2017 Dakar Rally – Stage 3 Results

Competitors made their way from San Miguel de Tucuman to San Salvador de Jujuy during Stage 3 of the Dakar. This is considered to be the first real test for the racers as it includes a total of 226 miles (364km) through the mountains, a 16,400 foot (5000m) climb to the summit and some tricky navigation through the dry river bed canyons in the foothills. Oh, and temperatures remained in the 100-degree (38/40-Celsius) range during their time in the lowlands.

The story of the day was the fast pace set by Monster Energy Honda rider Joan Barreda Bort. He started the day seven minutes behind race leader Toby Price in the overall rankings so he was focused on making up that ground on the reigning champ. He did just that, setting a blistering pace that saw him finish 10-minutes ahead of Sam Sunderland (GBR), moving himself into the overall lead with his 14th career Dakar Stage victory.

2017 Dakar Rally Stage 3 Top 10 Results

1. Barreda Bort (ESP-Honda) 04:23.41

2. Sunderland (GBR-KTM) -12.29

3. Renet (FRA-Husqvarna) – 15.30

4. Quintanilla (CHL-Husqvarna) – 16.02

5. Goncalves (PRT-Honda) – 16.20

6. Van Beveren (FRA-Yamaha) – 19.40

7. Caimi (ARG-Honda) – 20.09

8. Farres Guell (ESP-KTM) – 20.43

9. Price (AUS-KTM) – 21.51

10. Brabec (USA-Honda) – 24.16

 

Joan Barreda (Honda) - Stage 3 Winner - “Today was one of the days that we picked and we prepared for it from yesterday to attack. I was lucky and I did a good job. It was a really tough stage but I kept my focus during all the stage, so I am really happy with the work. It's still too early to talk about winning. There are still seven thousand five hundred kilometers to go. I'm not sure. This situation, this year is different than other years, so, for sure, we just need to keep focused and to keep riding like this.”

Sam Sunderland (KTM) - Stage 3 Runner-up - “It was definitely a day for navigation on the first part. It was tricky. I tried to take my time and find the good way, but really I was searching a lot. I found Toby after twenty kilometres coming toward me and he left maybe nine minutes before me. It was tricky, you know; we tried to take time and find the way, but when you can't find the way, you can't find the way. It was not because we were rushing or because we were riding too much, too fast. It was really difficult."

Pierre Alexander Renet (Husqvarna) - Stage 3 - 3rd Place - "It's a good result for me, in fact I'm almost surprised. The stage was long and the altitude is starting to have an effect… I've got a headache. I hope that I'll get used to it because it's a quite a bad one. At the start of the stage, the navigation was quite difficult, but I stuck to the task well and then I attacked."

Ricky Brabec (Honda) - Stage 3 - 10th Place - "Stage 3 was technical for everyone. Today I made a few mistakes. I was going a bit too fast in the dust and I came across a tree but at that speed I had to jump it. Luckily my front wheel and skid plate made it over just in time. I hit the other side with the wheel and blew the fender right off the bike. I don’t know exactly what went wrong with the bike but shortly after I pulled over. Svitko was coming right behind me but he crashed. I turned around and went backwards for him. By the time I got there he was getting up, so I parked the bike and repaired it and tried to make it to the finish."

 

2017 Dakar Rally Overall Standings

1. Barreda Bort (ESP-Honda)

2. Sunderland (GBR-KTM) -10.20

3. Goncalves (PRT-Honda) – 13.42

4. Quintanilla (CHL-Husqvarna) – 14.56

5. Price (AUS-KTM) – 16.19

6. Van Beveren (FRA-Yamaha) – 22.00

7. Farres Guell (ESP-KTM) – 22.00

8. Renet (FRA-Husqvarna) – 23.07

9. Brabec (USA-Honda) – 23.13

10. Svitko (SVK-KTM) – 25.54

Below, is  amazing video coverage of the terrain and countryside that the competitors raced on in Stage 3 of the 2017 Dakar Rally.

 

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