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David Sánchez de Castro
Madrid
Martes, 7 de enero 2025, 17:51
After two days of less than favourable news for Spanish interests in the Dakar rally, Lorenzo Santolino finally brought joy to the national fans following the world's toughest raid. The rider from Salamanca, who has consistently been among the top contenders without ever truly shining beyond his regularity, became the first Spaniard to win a stage in this Dakar. It was a historic day for him, marking his first partial victory and establishing him as a name to watch.
His Dakar debut in what is his seventh participation came in a shorter stage than planned, after storms forced the organisers to slightly alter the route. Following the nightmare start with the stages in Bisha, the riders could, so to speak, take a break from the endless dunes and treacherous terrains. In this context, Santolino was not only the fastest but also the first to break the absolute dominance maintained by the leader until Tuesday, Daniel Sanders, who finally conceded.
Santolino crossed the finish line first with a 1'21 lead over Bradley Cox, who was later penalised six minutes for speeding, radically altering the standings. Ricky Brabec, Honda's theoretical team leader, inherited the second place after narrowly beating his teammate Skyler Howes by nine seconds, who has become the new overall leader. The idol of the small town of St. George (where he even has a day in his honour, Skyler Howes Day, on November 4th, although it is better known as the setting for the tragic film 'The Conqueror' that caused so many deaths) took advantage of Sanders opening the track and lost nearly fifteen minutes at the end of the day, although he remains the leader by just under two minutes.
For Santolino, it was, in his own words, an "almost perfect stage." Especially because he knew when to attack. "In the stones, I attacked a lot at the beginning to catch up with Pablo (Quintanilla) and we rode together on some fast flats and then in a more technical area with navigation. I was focused throughout the race, attacking ahead of him in the last hundred kilometres. I felt good on the bike. It was a good stage," he summarised. Santolino will arrive at Thursday's marathon in tenth position, while the best Spaniard in the overall standings, Tosha Schareina, paid dearly for starting with the leaders and dropped a position to fall to fifth in the standings.
The young Saood Variawa became the youngest to win a Dakar stage in cars, taking the record from Seth Quintero just days after winning this third stage. The South African from Toyota's large army triumphed ahead of Guerlain Chicherit and redeemed himself after the disastrous incident at the end of the 48-hour chrono the previous day, when he collided with his teammate Giniel de Villiers and wrecked his car.
But the news was not just his victory or that Henk Lategan barely held onto the lead, but how Nasser Al-Attiyah is up to his old tricks and, once again, without showing an attacking attitude but relying on his classic automotive 'catenaccio', he is on the brink of the lead. The Qatari finished in a modest sixth place on this day, losing three and a half minutes to the day's winner but gaining nearly four on Lategan. On paper, the South African should not be a rival for him, but his teammate at Dacia, Sebastien Loeb, could have been, had luck been on his side.
The historic rally driver overturned at the start of the stage and wrecked his Sandrider, which was completely destroyed until the assistance trucks and Cristina Gutiérrez, turned into a luxury aid for the Frenchman, could help him. Despite the violence of the crash, Loeb reached the finish line battered and bruised, but with more than an hour lost to Variawa. In the overall standings, the Frenchman is now almost 50 minutes behind the race leader, compared to the mere seven that Al-Attiyah needs to make up in the coming days.
And he cannot afford to rest or become complacent. The feared marathon ending in Alula, where they will not have external assistance and will have to repair any potential damage themselves, will test the competitors' endurance, already worn out after the gruelling 48-hour chrono. Whoever wants to win the Dakar 2025 must emerge unscathed from the next two days.
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