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”
Cars Category Overall Dakar Standings
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
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”

Cars Stage 3 Dakar Results

Cars Category Overall Dakar Standings

Bikes Dakar Stage 3 Results

Bike Category Dakar Overall Standings