Dakar Stage 3: Moraes wins in cars, bike rider airlifted to hospital
In the car category, Lucas Moraes claimed victory in the third stage of the Dakar Rally, while motorbike rider Carles Falcón was a ‘serious condition.’
While Kevin Benavides won Stage 3 in the Bike Category, Spaniard Carles Falcón was airlifted to a hospital in a “serious condition” after crashing during the second stage of the Dakar Rally, which is being staged in Saudi Arabia, race organizers said in a statement on Monday.
“A fellow entrant who was behind him immediately alerted the organization, which sent a medical helicopter to extract the injured rider,” the statement added.
“He was in serious condition and has been airlifted to Al Duwadimi Hospital. Additional information is expected in the coming hours.”
The incident occurred at kilometer 448 of the stage, the statement added.
Twin Trail Racing, the team Falcón drives for, said in a statement that the Spaniard was “unconscious and without a pulse” after the crash, but was resuscitated by doctors.
The team added that Falcón suffered a fracture to his C2 vertebrae “that requires urgent surgery.”
“Over the next few days Carles will be kept sedated to control the development of the edema he has suffered in his head,” the statement added.
“From the team and family we appreciate all the messages of support received.”
Two-times Dakar Rally winner Sam Sunderland has been forced to retire on stage three of the 2024 race due to a mechanical failure of his GASGAS Factory Racing machine just 11 kilometers after the start.
In an ultra-competitive Al Duwadimi to Al Salamiya pass covering 438km, which saw the stage lead swap between multiple runners, a four-way victory fight developed between Toyota’s Moraes, Audi’s Mattias Ekstrom, Overdrive’s Al-Rajhi and defending champion Nasser Al-Attiyah for Prodrive.
Cars Stage 3 Dakar Results
| Pos. | No. | Drive-Team | Team | Time | Behind |
| 1 | 206 | (Bra) Lucas Moraes
(Esp) Armand Monleon |
Toyota Gazoo Racing | 04H 14′ 51” | |
| 2 | 207 | (Swe) Mattias Ekström
(Swe) Emil Bergkvist |
Team Audi Sport | 04H 15′ 00” | + 00H 00′ 09” |
| 3 | 201 | (Sau) Yazeed Al Rajhi
(Deu) Timo Gottschalk |
Overdrive Racing | 04H 16′ 00” | + 00H 01′ 09” |
| 4 | 200 | (Qat) Nasser Al-Attiyah
(Fra) Mathieu Baumel |
Nasser Racing | 04H 16′ 24” | + 00H 01′ 33” |
| 5 | 231 | (Fra) Romain Dumas
(Fra) Max Delfino |
Rebellion Racing | 04H 16′ 52” | + 00H 02′ 01” |
| 6 | 204 | (Esp) Carlos Sainz
(Esp) Lucas Cruz |
Team Audi Sport | 04H 18′ 20” | + 00H 03′ 29” |
| 7 | 212 | (Fra) Mathieu Serradori
(Fra) Loic Minaudier |
Century Racing Factory Team | 04H 20′ 12” | + 00H 05′ 21” |
| 8 | 223 | (Ltu) Benediktas Vanagas
(Est) Kuldar Sikk |
Toyota Gazoo Racing Baltics | 04H 26′ 17” | + 00H 11′ 26” |
| 9 | 202 | (Fra) Stéphane Peterhansel
(Fra) Edouard Boulanger |
Team Audi Sport | 04H 26′ 40” | + 00H 11′ 49” |
| 10 | 214 | (Ltu) Vaidotas Zala
(Prt) Paulo Fiuza |
X-Raid Arijus Team | 04H 29′ 01” | + 00H 14′ 10” |
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| Pos. | No. | Drive-Team | Team | Time | Behind |
| 1 | 201 | (Sau) Yazeed Al Rajhi
(Deu) Timo Gottschalk |
Overdrive Racing | 13H 07′ 29” | |
| 2 | 204 | (Esp) Carlos Sainz
(Esp) Lucas Cruz |
Team Audi Sport | 13H 07′ 58” | + 00H 00′ 29” |
| 3 | 207 | (Swe) Mattias Ekström
(Swe) Emil Bergkvist |
Team Audi Sport | 13H 15′ 55” | + 00H 08′ 26” |
| 4 | 206 | (Bra) Lucas Moraes
(Esp) Armand Monleon |
Toyota Gazoo Racing | 13H 16′ 46” | + 00H 09′ 17” |
| 5 | 200 | (Qat) Nasser Al-Attiyah
(Fra) Mathieu Baumel |
Nasser Racing | 13H 18′ 18” | + 00H 10′ 49” |
| 6 | 212 | (Fra) Mathieu Serradori
(Fra) Loic Minaudier |
Century Racing Factory Team | 13H 26′ 01” | + 00H 18′ 32” |
| 7 | 231 | (Fra) Romain Dumas
(Fra) Max Delfino |
Rebellion Racing | 13H 27′ 27” | + 00H 19′ 58” |
| 8 | 202 | (Fra) Stéphane Peterhansel
(Fra) Edouard Boulanger |
Team Audi Sport | 13H 29′ 34” | + 00H 22′ 05” |
| 9 | 203 | (Fra) Sebastien Loeb
(Bel) Fabian Lurquin |
Bahrain Raid Xtreme | 13H 32′ 27” | + 00H 24′ 58” |
| 10 | 214 | (LTU) VAIDOTAS ZALA
(PRT) PAULO FIUZA |
X-RAID ARIJUS TEAM | 13H 33′ 41” | + 00H 26′ 12” |
Bikes Dakar Stage 3 Results
| Pos. | No. | Rider | Team | Time | Behind |
| 1 | 47 | (Arg) Kevin Benavides | Red Bull Ktm Factory Racing | 04H 39′ 28” | |
| 2 | 9 | (Usa) Ricky Brabec | Monster Energy Honda Team | 04H 40′ 39” | + 00H 01′ 11” |
| 3 | 42 | (Fra) Adrien Van Beveren | Monster Energy Honda Team | 04H 42′ 19” | + 00H 02′ 51” |
| 4 | 10 | (Usa) Skyler Howes | Monster Energy Honda Team | 04H 42′ 25” | + 00H 02′ 57” |
| 5 | 46 | (Bwa) Ross Branch | Hero Motosports Team Rally | 04H 42′ 46” | + 00H 03′ 18” |
| 6 | 11 | (Chl) Jose Ignacio Cornejo Florimo | Monster Energy Honda Team | 04H 43′ 02” | + 00H 03′ 34” |
| 7 | 7 | (Chl) Pablo Quintanilla | Monster Energy Honda Team | 04H 43′ 42” | + 00H 04′ 14” |
| 8 | 142 | (Svk) Stefan Svitko | Slonaft Rally Team | 04H 44′ 32” | + 00H 05′ 04” |
| 9 | 2 | (Aus) Toby Price | Red Bull Ktm Factory Racing | 04H 46′ 04” | + 00H 06′ 36” |
| 10 | 23 | (Cze) Martin Michek | Orion – Moto Racing Group | 04H 47′ 00” | + 00H 07′ 32′‘ |
Bike Category Dakar Overall Standings |
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| Pos. | No. | Rider | Team | Time | Behind |
| 1 | 46 | (Bwa) Ross Branch | Hero Motosports Team Rally | 14H 32′ 51” | |
| 2 | 11 | (Chl) Jose Ignacio Cornejo Florimo | Monster Energy Honda Team | 14H 36′ 02” | + 00H 03′ 11” |
| 3 | 9 | (Usa) Ricky Brabec | Monster Energy Honda Team | 14H 37′ 59” | + 00H 05′ 08” |
| 4 | 7 | (Chl) Pablo Quintanilla | Monster Energy Honda Team | 14H 49′ 07” | + 00H 16′ 16” |
| 5 | 42 | (Fra) Adrien Van Beveren | Monster Energy Honda Team | 14H 53′ 07” | + 00H 20′ 16” |
| 6 | 47 | (Arg) Kevin Benavides | Red Bull Ktm Factory Racing | 14H 53′ 23” | + 00H 20′ 32” |
| 7 | 2 | (Aus) Toby Price | Red Bull Ktm Factory Racing | 14H 55′ 48” | + 00H 22′ 57” |
| 8 | 5 | (Aus) Daniel Sanders | Red Bull Gasgas Factory Racing | 14H 57′ 04” | + 00H 24′ 13” |
| 9 | 1 | (Arg) Luciano Benavides | Husqvarna Factory Racing | 14H 59′ 51” | + 00H 27′ 00” |
| 10 | 23 | (Cze) Martin Michek | Orion – Moto Racing Group | 15H 00′ 03” | + 00H 27′ 12” |