Saood takes maiden car win, Brad just misses in bikes
South Africa can be proud after two young local racing talents made the third stage of Dakar 2025 their own. 19-year old 2023 South African Touring Car champion Saood Variawa stormed to his maiden car victory for Toyota Gazoo racing. Saood is now the youngest ever Dakar winner. SA Cross Country, and World Rally 2 Motorcycle champion Bradley Cox only just missed out on the bike win. He was narrowly beaten by maiden winner Lorenzo Santolino and his Sherco.
South Africans Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings meanwhile extended their overall lead, while Ross Branch is right in the overall bile Fight and SA rider Michael Docherty is in the middle of a stunning 3-way Rally 2 bike.
Bradley Cox almost won his first Dakar day
With Tuesday’s Stage 3 route between Bisha and Al Henakiyah shortened to 327 km versus the original 496 km due to storms en route, the route consisted of mainly dirt tracks with a little gravel and a touch of sand thrown in. In another adjustment, while Saudi home hero Yazeed Al-Rajhi was initially credited with Mondays’ car win, but Lithuanians Rokas Baciuska’s Hilux was later promoted to take the stage.
American Seth Quintero and Dennis Zenz Gazoo Hilux opened Tuesday fastest among the cars to lead Swedes Mattias Ekström and Emil Bergkvist’s Ford Raptor and Brazilian Gazoo crew Lucas Moraes and Armand Monleon. Ekstrom and Moraes then took turns at leading, before Variawa moved up to third in a Gazoo 1-2-3 behind Moraes and Quinteiro. Lategan meantime kept pace with his closest overall challengers Nasser Al-Attiyah and Frenchman Edouard Boulanger’s Dacia.
Lategan further ahead overall after stage 3
The three Toyotas up front traded the lead with Ekstrom in chase with Mini trio Guerlain Chicherit, Guillaume De Mévius and Joao Ferreira closing in Variawa upped the pace to keep the charging Chicherit and de Mevius Minis at bay to take his first Dakar day win, with Quinteiro fourth from Ferreira, Attiyah and Ekstrom. Mathieu Serradori and Loic Minaudier ended eighth in their Century, from Gazoo trio Moraes, Giniel de Villiers and Dirk von Zitzewitz, and overall leader Lategan, who did enough to double his Monday overall advantage over Al Rajhi to over eight minutes over Al Attiyah, with Ekstrom third.
Of other South African interest, Daniel Schröder and Henry Köhne’s WCT Amarok bounced back from Monday’s technical challenges to end a fine fifteenth and Brian Baragwanath and Leonard Cremer were 20th in their Century. Leading lady driver Aliyyah Koloc and Sebastien Delaunay were the best of the Red-Lined REVO+s in 33rd.
Branch is still right in the overall bike race
Tuesday’s bike race delivered an intriguing battle between two men who had never won a Dakar stage before as Spanish Sherco rider Lorenzo Santolino fended South African, Bradley Cox off to win a memorable stage. Behind them, overall leader Australian Daniel Sanders haemorrhaged time on his KTM. That allowed fourth, fifth and third on the day, Skyler Howes, Ross Branch and Ricky Brabec to dramatically close his lead in second, third and fourth overall.
Sanders led early on, but he was gobbled up by Santolino and Cox. They traded the lead until The Spaniard opened a small lead in the long penultimate sector. Four minutes behind Santolino, Ricky Brabec, Skyler Howes and Ross Branch came in within 14 seconds of one another. Benavides and Svitko were next as Canet took Rally 2 from Ebster and Docherty. Overall leader Daniel Sanders lost over fourteen minutes to the leader, while pursuers, Howes and Branch closed their deficit down to just on two minutes in second and third, with Brabec a similar gap further back.
Attiyah chased Lategan hard in stage 3
Bradley Cox’s epic ride sees him up to ninth overall and day winner Santolino 11th. They lead of Rally 2 top three Canet, Docherty and Ebster South Africans. Aaron Mare was provisionally 25th at Al Henakiyah. Dwain Barnard was running 68th and Willem Avenant 108th at the time of writing. Dakar 2025 now heads into Wednesday’s 415 km first half of the no overnight service Stage. Its described as ‘a hell of a day’ through the canyons to Al Ula.
