The «original» Stage 3 winner of the Dakar was Pablo Quintanilla, after getting to end the day with a 1m38s of advantage over the second, Joan Barreda (Hero Motorsports). However and a lot after crossing the finish line, the chilean was penalised in six minutes, going from first to seventh.
This was about to be the the third win for Monster Energy Honda Team in this edition of the Dakar, and before knowing about the loss of the first position in the stage, the #7 reacted like this: ‘It feels good to win another stage on the Dakar. It was a super tough stage, it was long. The first part was super tricky on the rocky tracks, but I feel good. I feel good, with good pace, a really good feeling also with the navigation’.
He then met up with other riders, and ended up getting in front, but recalled that this is ‘just the beginning’:
– I caught Luciano around 80 kilometres, then Nacho after the refuelling, so after that we were pushing together, a few kilometres I was in front then a few kilometres he was in front. Like this, we were able to improve the rhythm. I’m super happy. I think that every day the feeling is coming with the speed and the rhythm. It is super nice to win another stage on the Dakar, but it’s just the beginning. We have a long race in front of us.
The 37 year old rider continued: ‘Up to now, the first three stags have been super tough, very long with quite bumpy terrain and super tricky navigation. This year there are some sections where you really need to be focused on the distance, otherwise it’s super easy to get the wrong waypoint. You think you are right, but then after a few kilometres you realise it was the wrong one. You have to ride with a lot of focus on the roadbook. It’s always a nice feeling, after a lot of hard work since many years already and my first Dakar. I’ve been through a lot of things here – good moments, bad moments, injuries, victories – but the race is like this. I love this feeling of racing and when you have a stage like this it’s super nice. You feel that all the hard work is paying, so it’s nice’.