KTM’s Kevin Benavidez won stage three of the 2024 Dakar Rally over Ricky Brabec. The results were revised after Pablo Quintanilla, Ricky Brabec, Joan Barreda, and Ross Branch all received penalties for speeding. Quintanilla was the worst hit–he was penalized 6 minutes, which took the stage win away from him. The day took a toll on many of the top names.
Two-time winner Sam Sunderland was forced to withdraw after suffering from a technical issue just 11 kilometers into today’s special. Hero Motosports Team Rally’s Sebastian Bühler crashed after 360 kilometers of the special and was eventually air-lifted out. Skyler Howes and Toby Price stopped to assist him until help arrived. Time spent at Bühler’s side was given back to both of them.
Mason Klein and Jacob Argubright both had heartbreaks today. Mason was the last Rally GP rider to leave at the start of the special after changing an engine yesterday. As a result, he found himself in the lead on adjusted time. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to last. His Kove started slowing down early in the special. He worked on it for a half hour, and then it was all he could do to limp to the finish. Argubright also had mechanical issues, which caused him to stop in his tracks. He was penalized a massive 12 hours. Both will start tomorrow, but it is a marathon stage, which means they only have two hours to work on their bikes.
Ricky Brabec: “I recovered some time today and rode the best I could. It was a long day, and I had a couple of hiccups early on, but here we are at the end of day three, so I’m happy to be able to start stage four. There’s a long way to go, but we will keep fighting.”
Skyler Howes: “It was another really fast and tricky day for navigation as well. We did get into some nice dunes, which was a good change of pace, but there were a lot more rocks today, which I’m having a lot of fun in. At the beginning of the special, I caught up to Toby (Price) and rode with him pretty much the whole day, so he took the lead through the dunes, and I led him through the rocks. It was a super fun day, not without mistakes again, so I know I can improve a little bit more.”
STAGE 3
1. Kevin Benavides, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing: 04h 39m 28s
2. Ricky Brabec, Monster Energy Honda Team: +00h 01m 11s (+00h 01m 00s)
3. Adrien Van Beveren, Monster Energy Honda Team: +00h 02m 51s
4. Skyler Howes, Monster Energy Honda Team: +00h 02m 57s
5. Ross Branch, Hero Motosports Team Rally: +00h 03m 18s
6. Jose Ignacio Cornejo Florimo, Monster Energy Honda Team: +00h 03m 34s
7. Pablo Quintanilla, Monster Energy Honda Team: +00h 04m 14s
8. Stefan Svitko, Slonaft Rally Team: +00h 05m 04s
9. Toby Price, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing: +00h 06m 36s
10. Martin Michek, Orion – Moto Racing Group: +00h 07m 32s
90. Kyle McCoy, American Rally Originals: +02h 15m 04s
105. Weston Carr, HT Rally Raid Husqvarna Racing: +02h 37m 04s
124. Mason Klein, Korr Offroad Racing: +07h 20m 32s
125. Jacob Argubright, Duust Rally Team: +19h 20m 32s
OVERALL STANDINGS AFTER STAGE 3
1. Ross Branch, Hero Motosports Team Rally: 14h 32m 51s
2. Jose Ignacio Cornejo Florimo, Monster Energy Honda Team: +00h 03m 11s
3. Ricky Brabec, Monster Energy Honda Team: +00h 05m 08s (+00h 01m 00s)
4. Pablo Quintanilla, Monster Energy Honda Team: +00h 16m 16s
5. Adrien Van Beveren, Monster Energy Honda Team: +00h 20m 16s
6. Kevin Benavides, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing: +00h 20m 32s
7. Toby Price, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing: +00h 22m 57s
8. Daniel Sanders, Red Bull GasGas Factory Racing: +00h 24m 13s
9. Luciano Benavides, Husqvarna Factory Racing: +00h 27m 00s
10. Martin Michek, Orion – Moto Racing Group: +00h 27m 12s
13. Skyler Howes, Monster Energy Honda Team: +00h 41m 45s
95. Kyle McCoy, American Rally Originals: +07h 46m 42s
99. Weston Carr, HT Rally Raid Husqvarna Racing: +07h 56m 40s
110. Mason Klein, Korr Offroad Racing: +08h 56m 52s
122. Jacob Argubright, Duust Rally Team: +20h 13m 25s
