0
0
In Stage 3, Sara Price and Saydiie Gray placed first in the Stock class of the Desafío Ruta 40, Argentina. Price and Gray completed the 409km special stage in 04:58:41 taking their first rally-raid stage win together.
Stéphane Peterhansel and Mika Metge took second place, four and a half minutes slower than the winning Defender Dakar D7X-R, with a time of 05:03:10. The pair faced navigational issues, which lost them some time.
Rokas Baciuška and Oriol Vidal (#502) came third and finished the San Rafael-to-San Rafael stage with a final time of 05:07:43, after receiving a 12-minute time penalty for speeding through controlled waypoints.
Stage 3 was the most diverse stage of this rally and took crews through the challenging El Nihuil dunes, across salt-flats and through winding dry rivers, making navigation difficult.
Ian James, Team Principal of Defender Rally, said: “Stage 3 done and dusted. The first feedback from Stéphane was how stunning the stage was, so I think all three crews have thoroughly enjoyed what is a classic, beautiful stage here in Argentina across some unbelievable terrain. Today took our cars to high altitude across some very challenging dunes. And once again, the Defender Dakar D7X-R has performed beautifully. We couldn’t be happier with the outcome there. A huge congratulations to Sara and Saydiie on their first stage win. It means that with each of the three crews having won a stage, we’re now headed to the final two days where it’s all to play for. Our focus is still ensuring that we get all three cars to the finish on the final day. But I can also see the competition heating up which is very great to see.”
Sara Price, Defender Rally driver, said: “Today was a great and eventful day for us. We had great pace, but I knew I needed to make up some time today, and I knew dunes would be in my favour. I love dunes. We did make a few navigation mistakes, which is expected, and Saydiie’s still learning, but she killed it otherwise. But the good thing is, we know where to improve. But we did go from a big lead to then not thinking we even had the lead and then learning that we finished in first, and that totally made our day. So that was pretty awesome, especially for Saydiie to get her first stage win, and by an all-female team. I think this is the first time that’s ever happened. Overall, the Defender was incredible. So, I’m proud.”
Stéphane Peterhansel, Defender Rally driver, said: “The stage was the longest stage of the Desafío, more than 400 kilometres, and probably the most beautiful stage with a lot of different terrains, some dunes, some riverbeds, dry, but after, it was a really open space. For us it was complicated, as at the end of the dunes we broke the left-rear drive shaft meaning we did 85% of the stage in only three-wheel drive. But we managed to finish and really happy to be at the end.”
Rokas Baciuška, Defender Rally driver, said: “In the beginning, we were struggling in the dunes, as the car was getting hot. Then we finished the dunes, and the rest was all good actually. We didn’t make any mistakes with the car, but then we realised that we got four speed penalties. So, it was a long day overall.”
Stage 4 takes place on Thursday 28th May, with the route taking competitors past the Andes mountain range, racing in high altitude. It features a timed section of 306km and is said to be the toughest stage.
