Dakar Rally 2019 – Stage 03, San Juan de Marcona

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