Pablo Quintanilla left ‘honey on your lips’ Joan Barreda. The driver from Torreblanca showed a great performance in the third stage. DakarWith more than 700 kilometers of routes and 438 special tracks, he crossed the finish line with the best time, but the final victory was for the Chilean, who benefited from the 3’30” bonus that the organization owed him. It was implemented at the end of the stage.

Barreda Going from less to more, he reduced Quintanilla’s time at each checkpoint and, starting from 310 km, the Chilean became a real alternative to victory. The rocky terrain, which on paper was not suitable for Hero’s Indian motorcycle, did not hinder the intelligence of the Spaniard who ‘flyed’ in the Saudi desert. Teammate Ross Brach, who placed fifth, also had no mismatches.

Joan, the Spanish driver who won the most stages in Dakar (29) and facing perhaps his final rally after a decade with Honda, his performance was not enough to secure a 30th victory, but the positive side is that both he and Branch have shown they have bikes. Aim for the final podium.

Third place in the stage became the current champion Kevin Benavides. A month before the start of the rally, he arrived at the Dakar starting podium shaken after having surgery for a broken fibula after being injured in the preparation stage in California. But ‘heroes’ are made of different stuff and today the Argentinian made that clear by setting a very strong pace throughout the special race that ended in Al-Salamiya.

former champion, St Sunderland He did not have the same luck and after suffering a breakdown at the 11th km of the stage, he had to bid an early farewell to the race, losing some of the main favorites such as Spaniard Schareina in just three days. due to the prologue and crash on the first stage and mechanical problems on Lorenzo Santolino’s Sherco.

Stage classification:

  1. Pablo Quintanilla (Honda) 4h 37′ 42”

  2. Joan Barreda (Hero) 1′ 38”

  3. Kevin Benavides (Ktm) 1′ 46”

  4. Ricky Brabec (Honda) 1′ 57”

  5. Ross Branch (Hero) 4′ 04”

  6. Adrien Van Beveren (Honda) 4′ 37”

  7. José Ignacio Cornejo (Honda) 5′ 20”

  8. Stefan Svitko (Slonaft) 6′ 50”

  9. Martin Michek (Orion), 9′ 18”

  10. Rui Gonçalves (Sherco) 11′ 03”