Media Information
Dakar Rally 2019
09 January 2019
Dakar Rally 2019
–
Stage 03, San Juan de Marcona – Arequipa
-
Stéphane Peterhansel takes his first stage win in a MINI
John Cooper Works Buggy at Dakar 2019. - Four MINI crews complete Stage 3 inside the top five.
- Five MINI crews inside the top six after day three of Dakar 2019.
Munich.
Stéphane Peterhansel (FRA) and co-driver David Castera (FRA)
put in a stunning drive today that ended with them winning Stage 3.
Today’s result now places the French duo and their MINI John Cooper
Works Buggy third overall in the general ranking.
The MINI John Cooper Works Rally of Jakub ‘Kuba’ Przygonski (POL) and
co-driver Tom Colsoul (BEL) was the second MINI car to finish inside
today’s top five. Just over a minute later, Yazeed Al-Rajhi (KSA) and
co-pilot Timo Gottschalk (GER) followed them across the finish point
to secure fourth place. This result now places Al-Rajhi second overall.
Joan ‘Nani’ Roma (ESP) and co-driver Alex Haro (ESP) didn’t have a
great start to the day but quickly made up places in the second half
of Stage 3. Their determined drive paid off by securing fifth place.
Cyril Despres (FRA) and Jean Paul Cottret (FRA) managed to finish
Stage 3 in sixth place, which mirrors yesterday’s (Stage 2) result.
This consistency has paid off as they are now sixth in the general
ranking. Boris Garafulic (CHI) and co-driver Filipe Palmeiro (POR)
maintained their charge to get inside the top ten ranking by
completing Stage 3 in 14th place.
Lady Luck wasn’t riding today with Carlos Sainz and co-driver Lucas
Cruz. Just 40 km into the Special Stage, the MINI crew had a racing
incident that resulted in severe frontal damage to their MINI John
Cooper Works Buggy. It was some time before they could get back into
the race in order to be ready for tomorrow’s Stage 4.
Stéphane Peterhansel
“Today was a very challenging day with the complicated navigation of
the big, soft dunes in Peru. It was not easy because we had to stay
really focused for four hours; if you lose just one piece of
information, it is easy to get lost. It was very easy to make a
mistake on today’s stage, but David did a really good job. We drove
well together and this is the first stage we have won together, so
good news.”
Yazeed Al Rajhi
“Today was good. We had two small problems where we lost time, from a
slow puncture where we hit a stone at the front but we managed to
finish and everything is okay.”
Cyril Despres
“It was a really nice stage and we were enjoying it a lot, making
good navigation and making our way through the dunes. But then we were
looking for a GPS navigation that was clearly not on the right
kilometre from the rule book. It’s a place with a lot of ups and downs
and lots of dunes; we passed 6 bikes…”
Next race is Stage 4, Arequipa – Tacna. For more information about
Dakar 2019, please visit the host’s event home page here.
Dakar Rally 2019
: MINI standings after Stage 3
Pos
Driver
Co-driver
#
MINI
Team
Time
2nd
Yazeed
Al-Rajhi
(KSA)
Timo Gottschalk
(GER
314
MINI John Cooper Works Rally
X-raid MINI John Cooper Works Rally
Team
008:40:56
+00:06:48
3rd
Stéphane
Peterhansel
(FRA)
David Castera
(FRA)
304
MINI John Cooper Works Buggy
X-raid MINI John Cooper Works
Team
008:41:11
+00:07:03
4th
Joan
Roma
(ESP)
Alex
Haro
(ESP)
307
MINI
John Cooper Works Rally
X-raid MINI John Cooper Works Rally
Team
008:46:10
+00:12:02
5th
Jakub
Przygonski
(POL)
Tom Colsoul
(BEL)
303
MINI John Cooper Works Rally
Orlen X-raid Team
008:47:53
+00:13:45
6th
Cyril
Despres
(FRA)
Jean Paul Cottret
(FRA)
308
MINI John Cooper Works Buggy
X-raid MINI John Cooper Works
Team
008:58:48
+00:24:40
13th
Boris
Garafulic
(CHI)
Filipe Palmeiro
(POR)
321
MINI John Cooper Works Rally
X-raid MINI John Cooper Works Rally
Team
009:38:27
+01:04:19
TBC
Carlos
Sainz
(ESP)
Lucas
Cruz
(ESP)
300
MINI
John Cooper Works Buggy
X-raid MINI John Cooper Works Team
TBC