Carlos Sainz lost the lead of the Dakar by 29 seconds this Monday, after completing the third stage. The Saudi Yazeed Al Rajhi snatched the first position from the Spaniard who continues to keep his hopes of becoming champion alive, although the headlines of today’s semi-marathon have been taken by the Brazilian pilot, Lucas Moraes.
The Toyota rider won his first stage in the Dakar today with a time of 4 hours, 14 minutes and 51 seconds, beating the Audi of Mattias Ekström and Al Rajhi. The local hero finished just one minute and nine seconds behind Moraes, a mark that allowed him to gain 2 minutes and 20 seconds on Sainz, who came into the day 1m51s ahead of the Saudi.
‘El Matador’ has had a positive stage in one of the longest days of the Dakar and most varied of the rally, despite losing the lead. The Audi driver from Madrid covered 733 kilometers, 438 of them timed, between the Saudi towns of Ad Duwadimi and Al Samiya, and finished sixth in the third stage in which he maintained his style. This day consisted of a first section of dunes, a second made up of stone terrain and a third of dirt.
Sainz has only given up 3m29s to Moraes, 2m20s to Al-Rajhi and less than two minutes to Al-Attiyah, one of his main rivals, who led almost the entire special but lost time at the end of it. The current champion is fifth, 10 minutes and 49 seconds behind the leader.
On the other hand, Sainz also increases the distance with respect to other rivals to take into account such as Sébastien Loeb who has lost 23 minutes and 41 seconds, compared to Moraes in one of the last sections of the stage.
