Pablo Quintanilla was the winner of the third stage of the 2024 Dakar, held this Monday between Al Duwadimi and Al Salamiya over a total of 438km of special. Ross Branch continues to lead the overall standings.
At KP26 and KP38, Mason Klein (Korr Offroad Racing/Kove) set the pace, but the American ended up having issues with the bike and fell out of contention after 303km. By KP96, it was Quintanilla (Monster Energy Honda) in the lead, and from then on, nobody could catch the Chilean, who won with a 1m38s advantage.
In second place was Joan Barreda (Hero MotoSports), surpassing Kevin Benavides (Red Bull KTM) by only eight seconds. Ricky Brabec (Monster Energy Honda) finished fourth, and with another consistent performance, Ross Branch (Hero MotoSports) conceded over four minutes with the fifth fastest time.
In the overall classification, after the third stage, Branch remains at the top, now 4m11s ahead of José Ignacio Cornejo. The Monster Energy Honda rider started the stage after yesterday’s victory and finished seventh in the stage. Brabec is third overall, ahead of Quintanilla and Adrien van Beveren (Monster Energy Honda). For now, it’s Honda dominating, with four out of its five official riders in the top five. The other rider was Tosha Schareina, who retired after an accident in the first stage.
Top ten of Stage 3:
Top ten overall: