Stage win for Variawa, as Lategan extends overall lead

• Saood Variawa becomes youngest Dakar stage winner in Ultimate Class
• Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings extend their overall lead
• Solid performances by all six TGR crews

Stage 3 of the 2025 Dakar Rally saw all six TOYOTA GAZOO Racing crews record solid performances, including a stage win by Saood Variawa and Francois Cazalet, while Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings extended their overall lead at the top of the standings.

The third stage of the rally started near the bivouac at Bisha, before taking the competitors in a northeasterly direction to the town of Al Henakiyah. The timed section of the stage was shortened to 327km, following heavy rain in the area. This came as a relief to many of the competitors, following the rigours of the 48h Chrono that preceded Stage 3.

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Variawa and co-driver Francois Cazalet (#218) faced a tough task on Stage 3. The pair had suffered a crash near the end of Stage 2, and arrived in the bivouac very late. The team’s technicians managed to fully repair the car, and the GR Hilux EVO crew were set to start the stage on time this morning. Variawa, at just 19 years of age, bounced back from the disappointment of Stage 2 to take stage victory on Stage 3, even with a puncture in the closing kilometres of the stage. Despite this stunning performance, Variawa remains well back in the overall standings, more than 7hr 47min behind the leaders.

The leaders in question are Variawa’s teammates, Henk Lategan and co-driver Brett Cummings (#211). The South African pairing drove a steady stage today, despite very rocky conditions. They were also hamstrung by faulty navigation equipment, but managed to restrict their time loss to just 7min 31sec to Variawa/Cazalet. Crucially, they increased their lead in the overall standings to 7min 17sec. Lategan/Cummings  will start Stage 4 in 12th place on the road, putting them in a prime position from which to attack.

Stage 3 also saw a fantastic performance by Seth Quintero and Dennis Zenz, in the #204 GR Hilux EVO. The duo also suffered a puncture, which they had to stop and change, but despite this were in contention for the stage win. In the end, they trailed Variawa/Cazalet by just 1min 48sec, putting them in 3rd place for the stage. This saw them move into 10th place in the overall standings, and take up a position in the coveted Top 10.

Lucas Moraes and Armand Monleon were the next-fastest TGR crew, despite losing brake pressure over the closing 100 km of the stage. With very little braking performance, the Brazilian driver overshot in a tight corner, and suffered a puncture as he briefly went off piste. This cost the #203 crew some time, but they still completed the stage in 9th place, and find themselves in 5th place overall, just 19min 40sec behind the overall lead.

Stage 2 was a dramatic one for TGR’s Giniel de Villiers and Dirk von Zitzewitz (#206). The veteran duo was involved in a collision near the end of the stage, and lost more than two hours as a result. Despite the setback, they rebounded in Stage 3, posting the 10th-best time of the day, 6min 32sec behind Variawa/Cazalet. De Villiers commented that he was cautious through the rocky sections, which may have cost him time, but the good stage result sees him in 30th place overall, 2hr 18min 26sec behind Lategan/Cummings at the head of the field. Even so, there is a lot of racing to come, and the crew remain hopeful to claw their way back into the Top 10.

The final TGR crew of Guy Botterill and Dennis Murphy (#205) powered through challenging conditions to record the 11th-fastest time on Stage 3. This was an incredible performance that saw them finish the stage just 6min 33sec off the pace set by Variawa/Cazalet. They had lost significant time on Stage 2, after a problem with the rear differential of their car. Without the benefit of four-wheel drive, they were forced to bypass a section of dunes near the end of the stage, and were heavily penalised for missing a number of waypoints in the process.

Botterill, driving in only his second Dakar Rally, was unable to improve his starting position for Stage 4, and was forced to start as the 147th car on the road. Starting so far down the order is a daunting task at the Dakar Rally, as the dust gaps are minimal, and there are many trucks and slower competitors who make the going tough for a fast crew such as this. The crew passed as many as 100 competitors despite the dust, to vault into the Top 15 on the stage.

With three difficult stages done in this year’s event, the rally has already proven exceptionally tough, even by Dakar standards. Next up is Stage 4, which is also the Marathon Stage. The crews will leave from Al Henakiyah to the northern city of Alula via a special stage of 415km. Liaisons totalling 173km will also have to be negotiated, before the crews overnight in a special bivouac without their service crews. Here, they will have to work on their cars themselves, preparing them for the final stage of the opening week, which will take them to the city of Hail – and the much-needed Rest Day.

QUOTES:

Saood Variawa: 

“Yeah, it was really good. We got a good rhythm from the start, but also a lot of dust. Unfortunately, we had one-minute gaps from where we started, after yesterday. But we picked them off one by one. And towards the end, we chased down the Ford and caught the Ford, put him under pressure. He got a puncture. We passed him, caught Giniel, passed him… And then we got to the last five kilometers, we had a puncture. So, we had to take it easy. But still a stage win, so I think I’m happy.”

Seth Quintero: 

“Yeah, started off all right. We were behind a couple of guys in the dust and just played it super patient. I figured people are going to make some mistakes today just trying to make up time after the 48 Hour. I think we did a great job. I got a slow leak with about 40km  to go and had to change that out. But all in all, it was a good time.”

Lucas Moraes: 

“I’m glad that the organisation made the stage shorter because we had no brakes for the last 100 kilometers. I overshot a corner because of of this and then we got a puncture. So yeah, we just survived today but I’m glad that we didn’t lose too much time. We are here and that’s the most important thing.”

Giniel de Villiers: 

“Yeah, it was okay. I mean, at least we had a clean stage. We maybe were a little bit too careful in the rocks, but with so many rocks today, it was easy to get a puncture. We are happy to be close to the top ten, so we’ll see… Tomorrow is the marathon stage, so that’ll be tricky as well.”

Guy Botterill: 

“Today was a very tough one, given where we started on the road. There was so much dust, it was extremely tricky to pass. But we ended up passing more than 100 competitors, and I’m really pleased with our result. We had a puncture early on, and about 10 vehicles passed us again, but we managed to push hard throughout the stage. This puts us back into the top starting positions for tomorrow, which should make things much easier for the Marathon Stage.”

Henk Lategan: 

“It was a decent stage for us. We didn’t get out the car. There were a lot of rocks, so very easy to get punctures and make big mistakes. But we kept it clean and we kept a good, constant pace for the whole stage. Our ERTF, or the navigation system, stopped working quite early on. So, we had no way of letting the bikes or the cars in front of us know that we are coming. We also had no way of knowing that there are cars coming from behind. It was very frustrating, but we’ll calm down tonight and then think about tomorrow.”

Dakar Rally 2025 – Stage 3 Results

Dakar Rally 2025 – Standings after Stage 3