Stage 3 of the 2025 Dakar Rally saw Sherco’s Lorenzo Santolino break KTM’s consecutive stage wins by taking the victory after the special was cut short due to bad weather. In the cars category, it was Saood Variawa who took the win. And in terms of bad news, defending champion Carlos Sainz is out after his raptor was deemed unfit. Here are the highlights for the 2025 Dakar Rally stage 3.
2025 Dakar Rally Stage 3: Motorcycles
KTM’s stage-winning streak was finally broken by Sherco rider Santolino, who took his first stage win this year, followed by two Hondas — defending champion Brabec and Skyler Howes. Hero’s Ross Branch came in fifth, followed by KTM’s Luciano Benavides. Sander, who took three wins so far finished stage 3 in the 21st place. However, on the overall leaderboard, Sanders is still in the lead, followed by Howes and Branch.
India’s Ashish Raorane sits in 97th place overall in his class, while Jatin Jain, the other Indian in the Rally sits in the 127th place. The Stage 3 special was meant to be 496km long but was shortened to 327km due to heavy storms and the battle will continue in Stage 4, which is also the first part of the Marathon stage, where riders and drivers will have no mechanical assistance. It will be all about preserving the motorcycle.
2025 Dakar Rally Stage 3: Cars
In the cars category, there was a mix of good and bad news. Starting with the good, Toyota driver Variawa took the stage win, followed by Frenchman Chicherit in second and Gazoo Racing’s Quintero in third. Qatari Dacia driver Nasser Al-Attiyah finished the stage in sixth, while in the overall standings after Stage 3, it is Lategan, Al-Attiyah, and Ekstrom leading the charge.
Now the bad news — defending champion Carlos Sainz is out of this year’s Dakar Rally after the FIM concluded that the Ford Raptor was unfit to continue the race after the roll in the 48-hour Chrono stage. That said, none-time WRC champion Loeb also rolled his Dacia, but managed to cross the line in 81st place. Price-Sunderland duo in the Hilux finished the day in 18th place while they stand in 6th overall after Stage 3.
2025 Dakar Rally Stage 3 results
