The rain disrupts all plans in the third stage of the Dakar Rally 2023.

If the first two stages of the 2023 Dakar Rally have been contested by avoiding rocks, rain has been the protagonist of the third day. When the Dakar convoy was heading from Alula to Ha'il, it encountered the last 100 km of the track washed away by water. Although the stage was shortened to 377 km, the race was more than enough to shake up the standings.

Nasser Al-Attiyah performed a miraculous mathematical equation at the front of the car race. He started the day more than two minutes behind the overall leader, Carlos Sainz, and finished the third day more than 10 minutes behind the stage winner, Guerlain Chicherit. But with that result, Al-Attiyah takes the lead in the car general classification. The Qatari and his co-driver Mathieu Baumel now have a nearly 15-minute advantage over their closest rival. Eureka!

Part of the reason Al-Attiyah was able to take the lead in the third stage was the misfortune suffered by Carlos Sainz. The Matador and his co-driver Lucas Cruz were stopped for almost half an hour in their Audi RS Q e-tron E2 on the way to Ha'il.

The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing is also represented in the Top 3 of the general motorcycle classification thanks to Kevin Benavides' performance. The winner of the 2021 Dakar is less than five minutes behind Sanders and is likely to cut some of that time in tomorrow's stage.

"It was wet in different places because of the rain. That made things a bit more complicated today." - Kevin Benavides

Benavides is joined in the Top 10 by his teammates and former Dakar winners Toby Price and Matthias Walkner. In 25th place overall is Camille Chapelière, who found today's terrain much more suitable to his riding style compared to the rocky roads of the first two stages.

After today's downpour, the fourth stage will heat up with a 425 km time trial. The loop stage around the Ha'il bivouac begins with a chain of dunes over 100 km long and also features navigation traps along the way.

General classification after Stage 3

T1 Cars

1. Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT) TOYOTA 12:20:35

2. Yazeed Al Rajhi (SAU) TOYOTA +13:19

3. Stéphane Peterhansel (FRA) AUDI +20:45

T3 Light Vehicles

1. Seth Quintero (USA) CAN-AM 13:52:06

2. Guillaume De Mevius (BEL) OT3 +01:01

3. Mitch Guthrie (USA) MCE5 +05:46

T4 SSV

1. Marek Goczal (POL) CAN-AM 14:30:03

2. Rodrigo Luppi De Oliveira (BRA) CAN-AM +09:36

3. Eryk Goczal (POL) CAN-AM +31:15

Bikes

1. Mason Klein (USA) KTM 14:03:50

2. Daniel Sanders (AUS) GASGAS +01:48

3. Skyler Howes (USA) HUSQVARNA +07:09

4. Kevin Benavides (ARG) KTM +10:41