Change of leader in Dakar 2024 in trucks. Ales Loprais was the first to beat Janus van Kasteren on Monday, coming out on top of the overall classification after the third stage.
It was between kilometers 249 and 310 that Loprais (Instaforex Loprais Praga) took the lead, taking advantage of van Kasteren’s delay (Boss Machinery Team de Rooy FTP/Iveco) who until then was the fastest. The Dutchman was also overtaken by Martin Macik (MM Technology Team/Iveco).
Until the end of the stage, the top three order never changed and Loprais won by 4m27s ahead of Macik in a Czech double. After three victories, van Kasteren had to settle for third place, losing 16m10s to the winner – when he started with more than 12 minutes of advantage. Mitchel van den Brink (Eurol Rallysport/Iveco) and Pascal de Baar (Tatra Buggyra ZM Racing) closed the top five.
In the overall classification, Loprais is the new leader, being 3m15s ahead of van Kasteren. Macik remains in third place, now 13m29s from the top and just over ten minutes from second place. De Baar and Jaroslav Valtr (Tatra Buggyra ZM Racing) are respectively fourth and fifth at this time.
Top ten of Stage 3:
Top ten overall:
