The Truck class stage was cut short during stage 3. Photo sourced from: Dakar

Off-road and weather usually go hand in hand, but with the amount of rain that this years Dakar course is dealing with has almost become unbearable. We probably have El Niño to thank for the rain and the drivers have to deal with the aftermath of the storm.

Cars, Bikes, and Quads all made it through the full stage. The truck class on the other hand had a shortened stage following a landslide. The truck stage finished at the second checkpoint with half the drivers completing the day in under two hours.

Photo sourced from: Dakar

Martin Kolomy, the Czech driver who was already leading at check point one, confirmed he was the day’s fastest man, beating general standings leader Hans Stacey by 17 seconds. This stage was predicted to better suit the faster drivers.

Sébastien Loeb continued to push ahead in the Car class, winning back to back stages. Loeb said upon finishing the stage, “It was a really nice stage. It seems that the times will be very close between the drivers. I pushed hard and I had a good stage with no mistakes. Everything is ok at the moment. For the moment, for sure, I’m enjoying it. It has been two good days for me at the moment.”

“The car is going very well. I have a good feeling with the car. It’s performing well so at the moment I’m enjoying it, for sure. At the moment we are on tracks like that so I’ve got a good feeling on this type of road. But when we go to the desert it will be different, with long and hot stages. That is something that I don’t know very well, so we will see. We will continue for the moment and I’ll try to do my best and we’ll see where we are in a few days,” Loeb continued.

Sheldon Creed getting muddy during stage 3. Photo Sourced from: Planet Robby

As for our US participants Robby Gordon and Sheldon Creed continue to push towards the top of the standings. Gordon finished the stage in 16th place putting him in 17th place overall at 27 minutes and 37 seconds behind Loeb. Creed finished the stage in 25th place and 29th overall, 53 minutes and 40 seconds behind the class leader.

There is plenty of time left in the rally to make up any mistakes in the 10 remaining stages. Do you think Gordon can pull it off? Tell us in the comments below.