Audi Sport racer, Carlos Sainz, won stage 3 of the 2022 Dakar Rally at Al Qaisumah, Saudi Arabia. Using an electric car Audi RS Q e-tron, Carlos Sainz bulldozed the terrain with a special route as far as 255 km in 2 hours 26 minutes 51 seconds.
This achievement is Carlos Sainz’s 40th stage victory in his career at the Dakar Rally. It was also the first time that an electric car won a stage victory at the Dakar Rally.
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Behind Sainz is Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Henk Lategan, who is only 38 seconds away. Good appearance was also shown by Mr. Dakar, Stephane Peterhansel, Carlos Sainz’s teammate who also uses an Audi electric car.
Peterhansel, who looked unlucky in the previous stages, was able to sprint and finish third in this stage 3. Nasser Al-Attiyah who was competitive in the first three days declined somewhat in this stage 3, only finishing eighth with a difference of 5 minutes more than Carlos Sainz.
However, Al-Attiyah is still firmly at the top of the 2022 Dakar Rally standings. On the other hand, his competitor, Sebastien Loeb, fell free in stage 3 after being competitive in the previous two stages.
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Loeb, who won in the previous stage, was required to go first, only to have bad luck with two punctured tires and touch the finish line in a damaged 4WD drive system.
This WRC legend lost up to half an hour due to the problems he experienced. While the Bahrain Raid Xtreme racer is still safe in second place in the standings, it’s just that they are now 37 minutes behind Al-Attiyah.