Dakar 2023 // SS3: Przygonski finishes eighth
01/03/2023
- SS3 stopped due to bad weather
- Tomorrow: Loop around Ha’il
The third stage of the Dakar Rally 2023 took the competitors from Alula to Ha’il. As bad weather conditions prevented the helicopters from flying, the stage had to be abandoned early (at km 377). MINI JCW Rally Plus crew Jakub “Kuba” Przygonski and Armand Monleon were able to secure eighth place again today after their setback yesterday. Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi and Ola Floene finished 20th in the MINI JCW Buggy. The crews Sebastian Halpern / Bernardo “Ronnie” Graue and Denis Krotov / Konstantin Zhiltsov finished the day in 26th and 27th place respectively.
After his problems yesterday, Przygonski was able to show again today what he and the MINI JCW Rally Plus are capable of. He worked his way further and further up the field during the stage and made it into the day’s top 10 with eighth place. Halpern was again struggling with his tyres. The Argentinean had to stop twice to change tyres. Afterwards, he made it through without any problems and reached the finish line in 27th place.
Kuba Przygonski: “Today’s stage was fun again – sandy tracks with camel grass. Unfortunately it rained the whole time and the visibility was very bad in parts. But we had no major problems. We are happy to be at the finish.”
Sebastian Halpern: “We had two flat tyres in the first part today. The rest went well. The sand was very heavy because of the rain. For tomorrow we will make some changes to the suspension.”
The Dakar squad will remain in Ha’il for the next two days. Tomorrow, the drivers will start on a 573-kilometre loop – the special stage covers 425 kilometres. On the first 100 kilometres, dunes are on the agenda. Later, the route continues on sandy tracks with difficult navigation.
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Results: Current status, but may still change due to interruption.
Dakar Rally 2023 – result SS3 (provisional)
1. G. Chicherit / A. Winocq – BRX – 3h 22m 57s
2. H. Lategan / B. Cummings – Toyota – 3h 26m 23s
3. O. Terranova / A. Haro – BRX – 3h 28m 01s
4. S. Peterhansel / E. Boulanger – Audi – 3h 30m 44s
5. Y. Al-Rajhi / D. von Zitzewitz – Toyota – 3h 31m 28s
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8. J. Przygonski / A. Monleon – MINI JCW Rally Plus – 3h 37m 35s
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21. Sh. K. Al-Qassimi / O. Floene – MINI JCW Buggy – 3h 48m 55s
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27. S. Halpern / B. Graue – MINI JCW Rally Plus – 3h 54m 39s
28. D. Krotov / K. Zhiltsov – MINI JCW Buggy – 3h 55m 16s
Overall standings after SS3 (provisional)
1. N. Al-Attiyah / M. Baumel – Toyota – 12h 20m 33s
2. Y. Al-Rajhi / D. von Zitzewitz – Toyota – 12h 33m 53s
3. S. Peterhansel / E. Boulanger – Audi – 12h 41m 18s
4. S. Vitse / F. Lefebvre – MD – 12h 45m 26s
5. B. Baragwanath / L. Cremer – Century – 12h 46m 49s
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21. Sh. K. Al-Qassimi / O. Floene – MINI JCW Buggy – 13h 39m 33s
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23. D. Krotov / K. Zhiltsov – MINI JCW Buggy – 13h 41m 24s
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31. S. Halpern / B. Graue – MINI JCW Rally Plus – 14h 34m 19s
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40. J. Przygonski / A. Monleon – MINI JCW Rally Plus – 18h 19m 35s
