01/06/26 08:27:00
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01/06 08:25 CST US driver Guthrie wins first major Dakar Rally stage and takes
overall lead
US driver Guthrie wins first major Dakar Rally stage and takes overall lead
ALULA, Saudi Arabia (AP) --- Mitch Guthrie won his first major Dakar Rally
stage and led overall for the first time after a stunning second half drive in
the Saudi desert on Tuesday.
Guthrie wasn't among the fastest cars until the checkpoint 167 kilometers into
the 421-kilometer loop outside AlUla but was up front from that point and led
without peer after 300 kilometers.
The American won by 2 1/2 minutes from Czech Martin Prokop. Guy Botterill, who
was running ninth with 100 kilometers to go, crashed the party in third place.
Prokop and fifth-placed Cristina Gutirrez achieved their best major stage
results in their 11th and 10th Dakars respectively.
"Best day ever," Guthrie said. "I wasn't expecting it, we just had a really
clean day."
Tosha Schareina of Spain won the motorbike stage to remind the field of his
ambition and threat. Schareina overcame two crashes and a collarbone injury to
press Daniel Sanders to the end of the 2025 Dakar, finishing second to the
Australian by less than nine minutes.
Schareina's Honda was now just over a minute behind Sanders' KTM in the general
standings.
The four-hour stage three promised difficult navigation and sandy canyons and
blew up the car rankings.
Of the top six leading drivers at the start of the day, only Nasser Al-Attiyah
remained in the top 10. He crawled home after two punctures with 100 kilometers
to go and fell from first overall to 10th, nearly 12 minutes behind Guthrie.
Dacia teammate Sebastien Loeb also suffered two punctures and ran out of spare
tires but with 300 kilometers left. He's five more minutes after Al-Attiyah.
"I'm just really happy to be at the finish because at one point I didn't think
we'd make it," Loeb said.
The new top five, led by Guthrie, were all in Fords. Prokop, Mattias Ekstrm,
four-time champion Carlos Sainz and one-time champion Nani Roma were within
four minutes of Guthrie.
Seth Quintero, second overall overnight, dropped to more than an hour behind,
while motorbike rider Stefan Svitko, a top-10 finisher the last two years,
withdrew after crashing and injuring a collarbone.
Honda claimed before stage three that Schareina hadn't gone hard but that
changed on Tuesday in the hardest stage yet. He became the leader after more
than 100 kilometers and gradually increased his gap to 22 seconds after 200,
one minute after 300 and 2 minutes, 17 seconds by the finish.
Schareina's third career stage win was where he won his first in 2024, and he
believed he was ideally placed for the marathon stage starting on Wednesday.
"I have a good position and I'll try to open all day," he said. "It's just the
third day, anything can happen, but we are there in the battle."
Teammate Ricky Brabec, who caught Sanders opening the way about 80 kilometers
from the finish, was second and Sanders third thanks to more than six minutes
in bonus time. Luciano Benavides and Skyler Howes were the only other riders
within 10 minutes of Schareina.
Brabec and Schareina improved to second and third overall, just over a minute
behind defending champion Sanders. Edgar Canet dropped from second to fourth,
nearly nine minutes behind.
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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
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