Pablo Quintanilla was the winner of the third stage of the Dakar 2024, which took place this Monday between Al Duwadimi and Al Salamiya, covering a total of 438km. Ross Branch continues to lead the overall classification.
At KP26 and KP38, Mason Klein (Korr Offroad Racing/Kove) set the pace, but the American ended up having problems with the bike and was out of contention after 303km. At KP96, Quintanilla (Monster Energy Honda) was already in the lead and from then on, no one else could catch the Chilean who won with a 1m38s advantage.
In second place was Joan Barreda (Hero MotoSports), beating Kevin Benavides (Red Bull KTM) by just eight seconds. Ricky Brabec (Monster Energy Honda) was 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 Chilean from Monster Energy Honda opened 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, Honda is dominating, with four of its five official riders in the top five. The other one was Tosha Schareina, who retired after an accident in the first stage.
Top ten of Stage 3:
Top ten overall:
