In the bikes, Luciano Benavides (KTM) won the third stage, but it was teammate Edgar Canet who, after a crash of his own, nonetheless seized the overall lead. In the cars, Sébastien Loeb (Dacia) took the stage win, while Carlos Sainz (Ford) moved into the rally lead for the first time after both Nasser Al Attiyah and Lucas Moraes of Dacia once again ran into trouble. Among the Dutch, Mitchel van den Brink was the standout: for the third day in a row he drove a flawless run to the fastest time in the truck class.
In the bikes, championship leader Daniel Sanders made a navigation error early in the special (he backtracked a stretch at kilometer 27) and with it lost any chance of the day’s win. Canet took over the virtual lead, then crashed, but recovered well enough to end the stage as the new overall leader: he now leads by 1 minute and 25 seconds over Benavides and 1 minute and 30 seconds over Sanders, who also picked up a time penalty for speeding. Benavides himself won the special by 1 minute and 54 seconds over Tosha Schareina (Honda) and 2 minutes and 1 second over Ignacio Cornejo (Hero), the best Hero result of this edition.
In the cars, it became a disastrous day for Dacia. Nasser Al Attiyah retired for the second day in a row with a mechanical problem, this time while he had already been leading for hours. Lucas Moraes, who had taken over the overall lead, crashed 12 kilometers from the finish and could not continue. Carlos Sainz took advantage and leads the rally with a Ford for the first time in his career, ahead of Seth Quintero (Toyota) and Nani Roma (Ford). Sébastien Loeb did take the stage win, his 25th in the world championship, but can no longer contend for the overall rally victory after his own drama on stage 1.
Notable among the Dutch: besides Van den Brink’s win, Lars van Berkel and Berend de Ruiter both drove their best stage of the week, but Rients Hofstra, Lex Peters and Kay Huzink all three received a 24-hour time penalty because they did not complete the stage within the time limit.
Fast and sandy, with an interruption for a rescue operation
Rally director Marc Coma had called stage 3 beforehand “a very different story” from the previous days: much faster terrain with more sand tracks and fewer technically difficult sections, which allowed the special stage to be extended to 363 kilometers (cars) over a total stage of around 591 kilometers. The dunes of Merzouga and, further south, those of Snegui he called “a delight for the senses.” Dunes made up about 13 percent of the special. It was also the first stage with short bypass routes for the riders who preferred to avoid an obstacle.
Later in the day the stage was halted for all categories due to a rescue operation: at 16:35 special stage control points 1 and 2 were closed for safety teams, the crews involved had to unlock their GPS tracker via a code and were released at 16:43 with instructions to drive straight on to the bivouac. Nothing has been reported about the exact cause of the rescue operation.
Canet seizes the lead after a crash, Ventura and Martín keep winning
In the RallyGP class, Sanders started first on the road, but took the wrong turn as early as kilometer 27 and lost more than 8 minutes to the fastest times of that moment. Canet then took over the virtual lead, but crashed himself, after which Brabec and Sanders reopened the special. In the end it was Benavides, who had started fifth and thus held a favorable position, who recorded his 20th W2RC win ahead of Schareina and Cornejo. It was the first time since a stage of the Rallye du Maroc-Portugal that three different brands stood on the podium.
In the overall standings Canet now leads a race for the first time since the Dakar, ahead of Benavides and Sanders, who like Canet received a speeding penalty (Sanders 1 minute and 10 seconds, Canet 10 seconds). It is the first time in the history of the championship that Spaniards lead simultaneously in both the bikes (Canet) and the cars (Sainz, see below).
Top five overall standings in the bikes after stage 3:
- Edgar Canet (KTM) 10:29:02
- Luciano Benavides (KTM) +01:25
- Daniel Sanders (KTM) +01:30
- Ricky Brabec (Honda) +02:48
- Martim Ventura (Honda, Rally2) +04:38
Ventura won in Rally2 for the third day in a row, this time ahead of teammate Preston Campbell (7 minutes and 20 seconds), and extended his class lead to 18 minutes and 36 seconds over Michael Docherty (Hero), who finished second three times in three days. Albert Martín (Triumph) won in Rally3 for the fourth time in a row and is still unbeaten since the prologue; his main challenger Murun Purevdorj (Xraids Experience) now stands second in the stage results, enough to secure the season championship in the class on Sunday in Zagora over the other Xraids rider Eduardo Alan, with whom he has battled over a single point all season. Antanas Kanopkinas (CFMoto) won for the fourth time in a row in the quads. For Rally2 debutant Shlok Ghorpade, part of Hero’s development program “India Next Dakar Hero,” things went without mechanical problems this time. Javi Vega (Kove) leads the malle-moto class, for riders without assistance.
Dacia’s triple play fails, Sainz grabs the lead
In the cars Dacia had a very poor day, despite Loeb’s stage win. Nasser Al Attiyah seemed on his way to his 54th career win and had been leading for hours, but came to a halt with a mechanical problem 9 kilometers before the previous finish (yesterday) and again today, this time at kilometer 213. He got going again after 35 minutes and 47 seconds, but his dream of an eighth Morocco win is over. Lucas Moraes, who had taken over the overall lead of the rally, crashed 12 kilometers from the finish; the crew was unhurt, but the car could not continue immediately. With that, Dacia must definitively let go of a third Morocco win in a row (after Al Attiyah in 2024 and Loeb in 2025). For Moraes, who is leaving Dacia after this season, the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge becomes the last chance to still win with the brand.
Carlos Sainz took advantage and leads a W2RC round with a Ford for the first time in his career, his first leading position since he won the Dakar with Audi in 2024.
Top five overall standings in the cars after stage 3:
- Carlos Sainz (Ford) 10:04:17
- Seth Quintero (Toyota) +03:20
- Nani Roma (Ford) +06:18
- João Ferreira (Toyota) +08:02
- Henk Lategan (Toyota) +08:40
Quintero, who is still missing his first stage win of the week but now stands third in the world championship, 13 points behind Loeb, would earn 20 championship points from a third place in Morocco alone. Loeb himself won the stage, his 25th stage win in the world championship and the 21st for a Dacia Sandrider, but because of his own retirement on stage 1 he can no longer contend for the overall victory. His five points for the day’s win are badly needed, though: he is defending his three-point championship lead over Al Attiyah.
Mathieu Serradori (Century) had to stop twice after an early problem and dropped back to 20th place around kilometer 107, but fought back and clawed back time in the dunes of Snegui. “A tough day, but a team that never gives up,” he said.
Peterhansel profits from Price’s collapse, Ferioli grabs the SSV lead, Pinto wins the Challenger duel
In Stock, Stéphane Peterhansel (Defender) won for the second day in a row. Sara Price, who had held a comfortable lead the previous days, dropped far back after a hard stage, more than five hours behind new class leader Peterhansel; teammate Rokas Baciuška also received a heavy time penalty. Peterhansel is thus the new class leader. In the SSV class Jeremías González Ferioli (Can-Am) won for the second day in a row and with it also took over the overall lead from Matthias Walkner, who now trails by more than five minutes. In the Challenger class it was Alexandre Pinto’s (Old Friends Rally) turn to take his revenge on Paul Spierings (Rebellion-Spierings), who had won yesterday’s stage.
Van den Brink flawless for the third day in a row
Mitchel van den Brink (Team de Rooy) drove to the fastest time in the truck class for the third stage in a row. “We saw a lot of bad tracks, rough terrain, but also mainly very beautiful sand dunes in Merzouga,” Van den Brink said afterwards. The area is not unfamiliar to him: “That is a place where we spend at least two months a year with our Rally Experience. So yes, we know the area like the back of our hand.” He was equally pleased with his truck: “Again, for the third time in a row a flawless day, the truck is performing very well.”
Dutch drivers: strong days for Van Berkel and De Ruiter, three 24-hour time penalties
Lars van Berkel (BAS World KTM Team) had his best day of the week: according to the official results he finished 20th on the stage, 18th in the Rally2 standings and 26th overall. “Good start to the stage, felt comfortable and had quite a bit of speed. Got lost once and then drove in the dust for a while; I still have to learn to navigate very precisely at a higher pace. But that’s what I’m here for,” he said. Berend de Ruiter (HT Rally Raid) started poorly instead: he got lost immediately and was well down at the first intermediate, but worked his way back to 38th place on the stage, 27th in Rally2 and 36th overall. “Something switched today. Really enjoyed the stage and the big dunes,” said De Ruiter.
Among the cars and trucks results were mixed. Kees Koolen/Wouter Rosegaar (RD Limited), Mike van Eikeren/Jasper Riezebos (MP Rallysport), Roger Grouwels/Rudolf Meijer (QFF Racing) and Paul Spierings/Kala Senders (Rebellion-Spierings) all four drove a trouble-free stage. Spierings finished 9 minutes behind class leader Pinto after a navigation error of his own costing about 15 minutes. “The speed is absolutely there, the buggy feels fantastic,” he said. “In the overall standings we lost some time to first place today, but at the same time extended our lead over third place. That is certainly positive.” The second vehicle of his own team, with Pál Lónyai and Alex Kuzmich, had to abandon the special early due to health complaints; both are safely back at the hotel.
Rik van den Brink/Gydo Heimans (SRT) drove a normal stage again after their problems yesterday, with only a small speeding fine. Gert-Jan van der Valk/Branco de Lange (MP Rallysport) did finish the stage, but missed two waypoints and received a time penalty of 1 hour and 16 minutes for it. Rients Hofstra and Wouter de Graaff (Red-Lined Europe) failed to beat the stage time limit and, according to the official penalty list, received a standard 24-hour penalty. Lex Peters and Arjan van Tiel (G Rally Team) appeared in the results without a finishing time, but Van Tiel explains that the situation is slightly different: “We actually finished at the neutralization point set up by the organizers. However, due to a faulty Marlink system, they don’t have a time reading for us yet. This automatically placed us on the DNF list, but we are currently discussing this with the organizers.”
Dutch results after stage 3:
Bikes
- Lars van Berkel (BAS World KTM Team) – stage 20th, 18th in Rally2, 26th overall (+1:39:22)
- Berend de Ruiter (HT Rally Raid) – stage 38th, 27th in Rally2, 36th overall (+3:15:59)
Ultimate
- Kees Koolen/Wouter Rosegaar (RD Limited) – 20th, +1:15:26
- Mike van Eikeren/Jasper Riezebos (MP Rallysport) – 32nd, +1:57:36
- Rik van den Brink/Gydo Heimans (SRT) – drove stage 3 normally again, 79th, +22:42:46 (including the stage 2 time penalty)
- Gert-Jan van der Valk/Branco de Lange (MP Rallysport) – finished with a 1h16 penalty for two missed waypoints, 84th, +24:46:51
- Rients Hofstra/Wouter de Graaff (Red-Lined Europe) – time limit exceeded, 24-hour penalty, 90th, +41:01:46
Challenger
- Paul Spierings/Kala Senders (Rebellion-Spierings) – 2nd in class, 9 minutes behind Pinto, 19th overall, +1:14:59
- Roger Grouwels/Rudolf Meijer (QFF Racing) – 49th, +3:11:47
- Lex Peters/Arjan van Tiel (G Rally Team) – time limit exceeded, 24-hour penalty, 91st, +41:38:47
Trucks
- Mitchel van den Brink/Bart van Heun/Jarno van de Pol (Team de Rooy) – class winner, 21st overall, +1:19:08
Tomorrow stage 4 follows, the longest of the week with 380 kilometers against the clock.
