A mechanical problem at km 213 of the 447 special between Al-Ula and Ha'il, cut short due to adverse weather conditions, caused Carlos Sainz to lose the lead of the Dakar Rally.
The driver from Madrid suffered a mishap to the rear axle of his Audi during the third stage that caused him to lose more than half an hour and then he had to stop twice due to a couple of bloody punctures.
All in all, he ended up giving up a lot of time, a total of 56m21s compared to the winner, Guerlain Chicherit (GCK), and also handed over the lead to Nasser Al-Attiyah (Toyota), winner of the last edition.
When he first ran aground, Sainz led his pursuer overall by nine minutes.
His son, Carlos Sainz Jr, was at his father's side at the time of the breakdown, watching as he and Lucas Cruz, his co-driver, were trying to repair a problem with the steering knuckle.
“Neither Lucas nor I are happy with how we have done the job.
It has been complicated for us and it makes us very angry.
We are not mechanics, but for the future we must take it into account ”, he explained under a deluge that threatens to suspend or modify the fourth stage this Wednesday, which will also start and finish in Ha'il.
كارلوس ساينز الابن @Carlossainz55 سائق فيراري في #فورمولا 1 يتابع والده كارلوس ساينز الأب #csainz_oficial خلال تصليح في المرحلة الثالثة من من #رالي_داكار 2023
🎥: @Ksaf_samf #داكار 2023 #داكار_السعودية 2023 #Dakar2023 .com/6nNEezmlsW
— Ibrahim Al-Zubaidi 🇸🇦 (@IbrahimAlZubadi) January 3, 2023
In the final section, before the test was suspended, the driver had two punctures in a matter of minutes, leaving even more time.
The jack didn't work for them and they wanted to repair the car in a stony area.
Immediately afterwards another one was punctured and one of his threads did not want to come out, forcing them to use a manual key that broke in their hands.
"A film not to sleep", he summarized.
His partner Mattias Ekström had to stop to give him another one and be able to resume the march.
Al-Attiyah, who lived through a Dakar without major mishaps last year, took advantage of the situation and leads Yazeed Al Rahji (Toyota), a local idol in Saudi Arabia, by more than 13m20s in the standings.
Despite the fact that the recipient of four Touaregs did not have an easy day, in which he gave up more than 20 minutes with the winner, and in which he also punctured, his position of pre-eminence over the rest of the favourites, greatly affected by the massacre of stones of stage 2, put him in the lead.
.
In fact, Sainz believes that the breakdown that annoyed them the day may have its origin in the constant rattling of the previous day.
If Sainz was clearly the benchmark for Audi after the first three days of competition, the double setback on Tuesday places him in the wake of the incombustible Stéphane Peterhansel, the best-ranked car of the German brand, 20m45s behind the current champion.
The man from Madrid is now eighth in the table, 33m11s behind the leader, although the classification is still provisional.
After the chaos experienced, the organization has not yet determined which checkpoint it will officially consider valid, something that can benefit the Spaniard.
“A lot of things are happening, and if that's the trend, let's hope it happens to others.
It is true that when you change your strategy and go on the attack, you buy tickets for more things to happen to you”.
Carlos Checa (Astara), who has already saved two days of punishment for all bivouacs with a very good pace, is 24th at the end of the day.
The heavy rain forced the stage to be canceled due to the impossibility of ensuring the flight of the medicalized helicopter and the safety of the competitors.
Several competitors were stranded in a river of mud and had to get wet to rescue their vehicles.
"I've been scared," said Cristina Gutiérrez (Can-Am), one of those who ran aground.
Upon arrival at the bivouac they had another surprise waiting for them: the showers did not produce hot water after the cold experienced in another long and very hard stage.
Highway to Ha'il 🌧️🚚🚗#Dakar2023 pic.twitter.com/nKh37E43LJ
— DAKAR RALLY (@dakar) January 3, 2023
Sanders dominates, Barreda is left for 10 minutes and Brabec is fired due to a fall
In the motorcycle category, Daniel Sanders did push this time to win the third stage between Al-Ula and Ha'il (4h24m15s) after playing cat and mouse with Mason Klein (KTM) the previous day.
The Australian, the most solid driver at the start of the Dakar, started in ninth position and took advantage of the tracks opened up by his main competitors to take first place in all the sections of the special.
The man from GasGas, the man who is best mastering the strategy so far, is first in the general after scratching his main pursuers for more than five minutes.
Although they benefited from the new bonuses for opening the track (1.5 seconds per km led in the first 200 of qualifying), it was of little use to them given the dominance of the new leader.
In a hard edition like few others, another of the favorites for the final victory fell and says goodbye to the fight.
At km 274, Ricky Brabec (Honda), 2020 champion and the first American to lift the Touareg, bit the sand and had to be taken to the hospital with cervical discomfort.
In the first stage, Sam Sunderland, champion in 2022, also had to leave due to a fall.
Joan Barreda, who finally took the start despite having a fractured big toe on his left foot, saved the day with a fifth position after dropping 11m29s on the day.
"We have tried to endure the pain, but I am happy because I have not hit my finger and the pain has not increased," explained the man from Castellón.
After a beautiful but complex special in terms of navigation and weather, as there were several downpours throughout the day that muddied the route, Sanders leads Klein in the general standings by 4m04s.
Barreda falls to fifth place, but continues in the race, his first goal after being unlucky with a rock in the second stage.
The motorcycle race was neutralized between the second (km 335) and third checkpoint (km 377) minutes before the suspension of the special for all participants.
You can follow EL PAÍS Deportes on
and
, or sign up here to receive
our weekly newsletter
.