2022 Stage 3: KLIM Dakar Rally Daily, Episode 32

After a shortened stage three of the 2022 Dakar Rally the top racers reveal, quite bluntly and obviously, their strategies for the upcoming long-distance race days. We hear from stage winner Joaquim Rodriguez after his and Hero Motorsports' first stage in Dakar history, Johnny Campbell checks in with a report and we get American Mason Klein to give us his recap from the day.

Racecraft is back in the mix, big time, as racers position themselves for a big time windfall during tomorrow's stage 4 - the longest special stage of the rally. Today's stage three was more of a sprint, relatively. But it was still a long day on the bike for the competitors. How is strategy playing out, well, GasGas' Daniel Sanders was fast all day, leading the time sheets at every check before deciding to stop and have a picnic... literally. Sanders was so confident in his speed today that he decided to blatantly sacrifice some minutes at the end of the stage to put him in a better position for tomorrow. Wow. Others held back, as well, although not as obviously.

Hero Motorsports' Joaquim Rodriguez topped the charts today, grabbing his maiden victory and taking his Hero Motorsports team to the top for the first time, as well.

American Mason Klein rode very fast, moving up through the pack to grab third on the stage, an impressive result for anyone, no matter the day at a Dakar Rally.

GasGas' Sam Sunderland, leading the race going into today but starting second on the course, finished 17th on the day but still retains the overall lead by four seconds over Monster Energy Yamaha's Adrian Van Beveren.

Mathias Walkner (KTM), Skyler Howes (Husqvarna), and Daniel Sanders round out the rally top five standings after the day.

Tune in and see what went down, and what the racers are in for in the days to come.

This race is getting better every day.

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Dakar Rally Daily is produced and edited by Jesse Ziegler, and hosted by Quinn Cody and Jesse Ziegler.