January 5, 2016 – Sebastien Loeb has extended his lead in the 2016 Dakar Rally after going quickest in the event’s third special stage today, which, similar to yesterday’s stage, was shortened due to bad weather conditions.
Loeb was quickest in every checkpoint, winning the stage and extending his lead to more than 5 minutes from Toyota’s Giniel de Villiers who moved from fourth place overall to second overall, whilst Loeb’s teammate Stephane Peterhansel dropped to third overall after losing time.
Nasser Al-Attiyah moved from eighth overall to fifth overall after setting the third quickest time today; he’s less than a minute behind fourth-placed man Mikko Hirvonen.
Following engine problems yesterday, Carlos Sainz set the second fastest time and now lies 10th overall.
Overall results after Stage 3:
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Car | Time/Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 314 | Sebastien Loeb | Peugeot | 6h01m42s |
| 2 | 301 | Giniel de Villiers | Toyota | 5m03s |
| 3 | 302 | Stephane Peterhansel | Peugeot | 5m15s |
| 4 | 315 | Mikko Hirvonen | Mini | 5m52s |
| 5 | 300 | Nasser Al-Attiyah | Mini | 6m39s |
| 6 | 319 | Leeroy Poulter | Toyota | 6m43s |
| 7 | 311 | Bernhard ten Brinke | Toyota | 8m42s |
| 8 | 307 | Vladimir Vasilyev | Toyota | 8m55s |
| 9 | 321 | Cyril Despres | Peugeot | 10m47s |
| 10 | 303 | Carlos Sainz | Peugeot | 12m20s |
