Frenchmen Guerlain Chicherit and co-driver Alex Winocq were first home after the gruelling third stage from Alula to Ha’il. Torrential rain forced the organisers to shorten the stage to 377km for many of the crews on the 2023 Dakar Rally. Qatari Nasser Al-Attiyah also managed to topple Carlos Sainz in the general standings.

This is Chicherit’s fourth-ever stage win in The Dakar, and his first since the 2013 event. He made up some time after a disastrous second stage on Monday with his GCK Motorsport Prodrive Hunter by staying clear of trouble in the third special. After a refueling point, the Dakar organisers, Amaury Sport Organisation, called an end to the day for what should have been a 447km special.

Just three minutes and 26 seconds behind Chicherit were South Africans Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings in their Gazoo Racing Toyota Hilux. They held an early lead and were the best of the rest of the field, and kept Argentinian Orlando Terranova and his BRX Hunter at bay to take second position on the day.

“This morning, Glyn Hall [team principal] pulled me aside and told me to forget about all the technicalities, and just drive the car. This is what we did today, and it clearly made a big difference. I was beginning to doubt myself after the first two stages, but today things felt right, and I’m in a much better space now,” Lategan admitted at the bivouac.

It was a forgettable day for Spaniard and three-time Dakar winner Sainz, who suffered damage to the left rear suspension of his Audi RS Q e-tron. After stopping to repair the vehicle, Sainz and co-driver Lucas Cruz lost more than 45 minutes, and the overall lead to Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Nasser Al-Attiyah.