Daniel Sanders, Austin Jones and Nasser Al-Attiyah battled treacherous weather-affected conditions during Tuesday’s Stage Three of the 45th Dakar Rally, motorsport’s toughest test of endurance.

Jan. 3/Stage 3/Aluha-Ha’il/Distance-Total/Special: 669.15-kilometers/447-kilometers

_ Rain totally disrupted Stage Three, with the last 100-kilometers washed away. However, defending car champion Nasser Al-Attiyah of Qatar built upon Monday’s Stage Two victory with a solid drive to claim the overall lead while legendary Carlos Sainz of Spain was halted for almost half an hour in his Audi RS Q e-tron E2.

_ Australian Daniel Sanders excelled again as the Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing bike rider won to cut Mason Klein’s overall lead to 1-minute, 48-seconds. The 28-year-old Sanders _ known in the bivouac as “Chucky” _ said of his strategy, “The idea was to win the stage by catching the guys in front _ and it’s worked out really well.”

_ Red Bull KTM Factory Racing riders have claimed the overall bike top-five thanks to Argentine Kevin Benavides, while teammates and fellow-former Dakar winners Toby Price and Matthias Walkner are in the top-10.

_ Despite conditions, solid results continued for the Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team USA presented by BFGoodrich. American Austin Jones won the stage while compatriot Seth Quintero took the overall T3 lead with Lithuanian Rokas Baciuška’s third-place in T4 boosting him to fourth overall.

_ Wednesday’s Stage Four definitely will turn up the degree of difficulty via a 425-kilometer jaunt against the clock, the loop stage around the Ha’il bivouac starting with a chain of dunes measuring over 100-kilometers and several navigational pitfalls.

Jan. 2/Stage 2/Sea Camp-Aluha/Distance-Total/Special: 589.07-kilometers/430- kilometers

Nasser Al-Attiyah, Daniel Sanders and Mitch Guthrie excelled over Stage Two’s dangerous boulders in Saudi Arabia.

_ Over 400-kilometers during Monday’s Stage Two brought competitors through dangerous boulders, as defending champion Nasser Al-Attiyah and co-driver Mathieu Baumel cut into Carlos Sainz’s overall car lead with a victory in their Toyota Hilux T1+. The 52-year-old Al-Attiyah said, “Mathieu did a really good job with the navigation; it wasn’t easy today.”

_ BRX Hunter driver Sébastien Loeb forfeited over an hour to race-leader Sainz, while Sainz’s fellow-Team Audi Sport drivers Stéphane Peterhansel of France and Swede Mattias Ekström were both more than 30 minutes behind Al-Attiyah, of Qatar.

_ Australian Daniel Sanders eased off his bike throttle late to ensure an easier start to Stage Three, with Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Toby Price and Kevin Benavides also in the top-five overall. “I slowed down a bit because we already know that tomorrow is going to be another really tough day,” said Sanders, 28. “I wasn’t after the stage win today.”

_ American Mitch Guthrie of the Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team USA delivered a first stage win in his T3-M by MCE5 and a perfect birthday present for co-driver Kellon Walch. Guthrie, 26, said, “Kellon did great today with navigation and the car was awesome.”

_ Tuesday’s Stage Three schedule points the convoy towards Ha’il via a timed special stage measuring 447-kilometers, a course featuring more big boulders and steep canyons to navigate before ending on the dunes.

Jan. 1/Stage 1/Sea Camp-Sea Camp

Sunday’s Stage One on the sands of Saudi Arabia saw the bike race’s defending champion crash out, while fresh-faced challengers excelled.

_ New Year’s Day rang-in with an ultra-tough 368-kilometer loop stage around the Dakar’s Sea Camp in Yanbu, with motorsports legend Carlos Sainz of Spain claiming his 42nd Dakar stage win in an Audi RS Q e-tron E2 alongside co-driver Lucas Cruz. The 60-year-old Sainz said, “We had one puncture at the beginning, so after that we proceeded with caution over the stones.”

_ Englishman Sam Sunderland’s defense of his bike title ended 52-kilometers into the stage with 2020 winner Ricky Brabec of the United States topping the timesheets. The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing duo of Kevin Benavides and Toby Price were within a minute of Brabec, as well as Australian Daniel Sanders. “I kept clear of any big mistakes and just kept cruising; it was fun out there,” Sanders said.

_ Chilean Chaleco López’s Dakar started where his last one finished _ in the overall lead of the T3 category _ as the defending champ took the stage win for the Red Bull Can-Am Factory Team alongside co-driver Juan Pablo Latrach. Meanwhile, Rokas Baciuška and Oriol Vidal delivered another winning result in the T4 category. The Lithuanian said, “This was just the first stage, but it already feels like proper Dakar.”

_ Monday’s Stage Two will see the convoy leave Sea Camp and head east to Alula. Giant boulders and deep canyons will be featured throughout the 430-kilometer timed special stage as well as a chain of desert dunes.

Dec. 31/Prologue/Sea Camp-Sea Camp

Mattias Ekström, Cristina Gutiérrez and Toby Price starred during the opening prologue stage.

_ A short, sharp 13-kilometer Saturday prologue track on the shores of the Red Sea determined starting positions for Sunday’s 368-kilometer timed special stage. A total of 603 competitors in 355 vehicles were involved, mostly in less than 10 minutes, to launch the race.

_ Two-time DTM championship winner Mattias Ekström of Sweden piloted his Audi RS Q e-tron E2 for the first time, recording the day’s fastest time across all categories (eight minutes) to claim an early lead in the T1 car class standings.

_ In the T3 race, Cristina Gutiérrez set the fastest time with co-driver Pablo Moreno as she looks to improve on third place overall at the previous Dakar. The Spaniard, 31, said, “I’m feeling really happy with the car and team; the mentality is really positive.”

_ Former bike champion Toby Price won for the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team with Australian compatriot Daniel Sanders in second.

Nightly coverage of Dakar in the United States began Sunday, Jan. 1, at 6:30 p.m. (EST) on Peacock and will continue through Sunday, Jan. 15. Highlights of every show (all 14 stages and the rest day), exclusive racer interviews and features will be available on Peacock and NBC Sports digital platforms.

CNBC will present three, hour-long encore presentations throughout the event (Saturday, Jan. 7, at noon (EST); Sunday, Jan. 8, at 11 a.m. (EST) and Sunday, Jan. 15, at noon (EST) that will be streamed on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app.

Here is the complete same-day coverage schedule of the 2023 Dakar Rally on Peacock and CNBC:

Sunday, Jan. 1 _ Stage 1, Sea Camp (6:30 p.m., EST, on Peacock)

Monday, Jan. 2 _ Stage 2, Sea Camp to Alula (6:30 p.m. on Peacock)

Tuesday, Jan. 3 _ Stage 3, Alula to Ha’il (6:30 p.m. on Peacock)

Wednesday, Jan. 4 _ Stage 4, Ha’il (6:30 p.m. on Peacock)

Thursday, Jan. 5 _ Stage 5, Ha’il (6:30 p.m. on Peacock)

Friday, Jan. 6 _ Stage 6, Ha’il to Al Duwadimi (6:30 p.m. on Peacock)

Saturday, Jan. 7 _ Stages 5 and 6 (Encore presentation at noon on CNBC)

Saturday, Jan. 7 _ Stage 7, Al Duwadimi (6:30 p.m. on Peacock)

Sunday, Jan. 8 _ Stages 6 and 7 (Encore presentation at 11 a.m. on CNBC)

Sunday, Jan. 8 _ Stage 8, Al Duwadimi to Riyadh (6:30 p.m. on Peacock)

Monday, Jan. 9 _ Rest Day (6:30 p.m. on Peacock)

Tuesday, Jan. 10 _ Stage 9, Riyadh to Haradh (6:30 p.m. on Peacock)

Wednesday, Jan. 11 _ Stage 10, Haradh to Shaybah (6:30 p.m. on Peacock)

Thursday, Jan. 12 _ Stage 11, Shaybah to Empty Quarter Marathon (6:30 p.m. on Peacock)

Friday, Jan. 13 _ Stage 12, Empty Quarter Marathon to Shaybah (6:30 p.m. on Peacock)

Saturday, Jan. 14 _ Stage 13, Shaybah to Al-Hofuf (6:30 p.m. on Peacock)

Sunday, Jan. 15 _ Stages 12 and 13 (Encore presentation at noon on CNBC)

Sunday, Jan. 15 _ Stage 14, Al-Hofuf to Dammam (6:30 p.m. on Peacock)

 

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