- 2nd on stage for Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings
- 13th on stage for Nasser Al-Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel
- 23rd on stage for Giniel de Villiers and Dennis Murphy
- Punctures again play major role
- Stage shortened due to adverse weather conditions
- Nasser and Mathieu move into overall lead
Heavy rains forced the organisers of Dakar 2023 to shorten the third stage, between Al Ula and Ha’il, while punctures again played havoc with many of the crews. Fastest of the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing crews on the day was Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings, who brought their GR DKR Hilux T1+ to the end of the truncated stage in the second-fastest time, just 3min 26sec behind the winners. This would have moved him into the Top 5 overall, but a penalty from Stage 1 has hampered their progress up the leader board, and they currently find themselves in 11th place overall, 40min 08sec behind the lead.
That lead now belongs to teammates Nasser Al-Attiyah and co-driver Mathieu Baumel, who had two punctures early in Stage 3. This forced them to slow their pace considerably, as there is a limit of two spare tyres on board cars in the T1+ class. Despite a cautious approach, the TGR crew went 13th-fastest on the stage, relinquishing 20min 58sec to the winners on the day.
However, with some of their nearest competitors in the overall standings falling by the wayside, Nasser and Mathieu moved into the overall lead of Dakar 2023, and found themselves 13min 20sec ahead of the privately entered GR DKR Hilux T1+ of Yazeed Al Rajhi and Dirk von Zitzewitz, in second place.
Further back, Giniel de Villiers and co-driver Dennis Murphy also had to deal with two early punctures. The crew switched to survival mode, and steadily lost time during the stage. In the end, they managed to restrict their time loss to 28min 40sec on the day, but relinquished two positions in the overall standings. They are currently in 7th place, 32min 08sec behind the lead. They remain in touch with the leaders, however, and will be hoping for less hostile terrain, in terms of punctures, for the coming stages.
Next up is Stage 4 of the event, which starts and finishes near the city of Ha’il. The stage comprises a liaison of 94km leading to the start, as well as a timed special of 425km. Finally, a liaison of 58km will bring the crews back to the bivouac at Ha’il, which serves as the rally’s base for the next three days. This year’s Dakar features 14 stages, with the route taking the crews across the Saudi Arabian landscape from coast to coast, with the final stage concluding in the city of Dammam on January 15th.
QUOTES:
Glyn Hall, TGR Dakar Team Principal: “We had another good outing today, all things considered. Punctures again played a major role, with both Nasser and Giniel having to be extra cautious after early punctures. With that said, Nasser is into the lead of the rally; and Giniel has provisionally dropped two positions. Henk had a stunning stage today, so overall no complaints.”
Nasser Al-Attiyah: “We had two flat tyres early on, which made it impossible to push in the rocks. But we’re very happy to be leading the rally, and we’ll see what we can do tomorrow, as we’ll have a much better road position.”
Giniel de Villiers: “If we had known earlier that the stage would be stopped, we might have been able to push some more. But with two early punctures, we had no choice but to drive very cautiously. Yes, we lost a lot of time, but at least we are here. There’s still a long way to go, so for the moment survival is the name of the game, especially given the very strange weather we’re experiencing in the desert.”
Henk Lategan: “This morning, Glyn Hall [Team Principal] pulled me aside and told me to forget about all the technicalities, and just drive the car. This is what we did today, and it clearly made a big difference. I was beginning to doubt myself after the first two stages, but today things felt right, and I’m in a much better space now.”
DAKAR 2023: Stage 3 Results
| POS. | N° | CREW | TEAM | TIME | VARIATION |
| 1 | 206 | (FRA) GUERLAIN CHICHERIT(FRA) ALEX WINOCQ | GCK MOTORSPORT | 03H 22′ 57” | |
| 2 | 217 | (ZAF) HENK LATEGAN(ZAF) BRETT CUMMINGS | TOYOTA GAZOO RACINGgr dkr hilux t1+ | 03H 26′ 23” | + 00H 03′ 26” |
| 3 | 208 | (ARG) ORLANDO TERRANOVA(ESP) ALEX HARO BRAVO | BAHRAIN RAID XTREME | 03H 28′ 01” | + 00H 05′ 04” |
| 4 | 204 | (FRA) STÉPHANE PETERHANSEL(FRA) EDOUARD BOULANGER | TEAM AUDI SPORT | 03H 30′ 44” | + 00H 07′ 47” |
| 5 | 202 | (SAU) YAZEED AL RAJHI(DEU) DIRK VON ZITZEWITZ | OVERDRIVE RACING | 03H 31′ 28” | + 00H 08′ 31” |
| 6 | 216 | (ZAF) BRIAN BARAGWANATH(ZAF) LEONARD CREMER | CENTURY RACING FACTORY TEAM | 03H 33′ 10” | + 00H 10′ 13” |
| 7 | 213 | (LTU) VAIDOTAS ZALA(PRT) PAULO FIUZA | TELTONIKA RACING. | 03H 34′ 03” | + 00H 11′ 06” |
| 8 | 203 | (POL) JAKUB PRZYGONSKI(ESP) ARMAND MONLEON | X-RAID MINI JCW TEAM | 03H 37′ 35” | + 00H 14′ 38” |
| 9 | 230 | (BRA) LUCAS MORAES(DEU) TIMO GOTTSCHALK | OVERDRIVE RACING | 03H 38′ 38” | + 00H 15′ 41” |
| 10 | 211 | (SWE) MATTIAS EKSTROM(SWE) EMIL BERGKVIST | TEAM AUDI SPORT | 03H 43′ 00” | + 00H 20′ 03” |
| 13 | 200 | (QAT) NASSER AL-ATTIYAH(FRA) MATHIEU BAUMEL | TOYOTA GAZOO RACINGgr dkr hilux t1+ | 03H 43′ 55” | + 00H 20′ 58” |
| 23 | 205 | (ZAF) GINIEL DE VILLIERS(ZAF) DENNIS MURPHY | TOYOTA GAZOO RACINGgr dkr hilux t1+ | 03H 51′ 37” | + 00H 28′ 40” |
DAKAR 2023: Standings after Stage 3
| POS. | N° | CREW | TEAM | TIME | VARIATION |
| 1 | 200 | (QAT) NASSER AL-ATTIYAH(FRA) MATHIEU BAUMEL | TOYOTA GAZOO RACINGGr dkr hilux t1+ | 12H 20′ 33” | |
| 2 | 202 | (SAU) YAZEED AL RAJHI(DEU) DIRK VON ZITZEWITZ | OVERDRIVE RACING | 12H 33′ 53” | + 00H 13′ 20” |
| 3 | 204 | (FRA) STÉPHANE PETERHANSEL(FRA) EDOUARD BOULANGER | TEAM AUDI SPORT | 12H 41′ 18” | + 00H 20′ 45” |
| 4 | 236 | (FRA) SIMON VITSE(FRA) FREDERIC LEFEBVRE | MD RALLY | 12H 45′ 26” | + 00H 24′ 53” |
| 5 | 216 | (ZAF) BRIAN BARAGWANATH(ZAF) LEONARD CREMER | CENTURY RACING FACTORY TEAM | 12H 46′ 49” | + 00H 26′ 16” |
| 6 | 209 | (FRA) MATHIEU SERRADORI(FRA) LOIC MINAUDIER | CENTURY RACING FACTORY TEAM | 12H 47′ 52” | + 00H 27′ 19” |
| 7 | 205 | (ZAF) GINIEL DE VILLIERS(ZAF) DENNIS MURPHY | TOYOTA GAZOO RACINGGr dkr hilux t1+ | 12H 52′ 41” | + 00H 32′ 08” |
| 8 | 207 | (ESP) CARLOS SAINZ(ESP) LUCAS CRUZ | TEAM AUDI SPORT | 12H 53′ 44” | + 00H 33′ 11” |
| 9 | 230 | (BRA) LUCAS MORAES(DEU) TIMO GOTTSCHALK | OVERDRIVE RACING | 12H 54′ 18” | + 00H 33′ 45” |
| 10 | 210 | (CZE) MARTIN PROKOP(CZE) VIKTOR CHYTKA | ORLEN BENZINA TEAM | 12H 55′ 43” | + 00H 35′ 10” |
| 11 | 217 | (ZAF) HENK LATEGAN(ZAF) BRETT CUMMINGS | TOYOTA GAZOO RACINGGr dkr hilux t1+ | 13H 00′ 41” | + 00H 40′ 08” |
Follow the fortunes of the TGR W2RC and Dakar crews by joining our social media channels:
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TOYOTA GAZOO Racing enjoys a mutually beneficial relationship with its partners Red Bull, Kinto, Eurol and the Innovation Group. The team is also supported by Hallspeed, SKF, Spanjaard, Edgecam, Supreme Springs, Shatterprufe, Smith’s Manufacturing, Oakley, Lumotech, OMP, MSA, SACCS and the FIA. Thanks also to Ingco, Jonsson Workwear and USN for their support.
