WIND
IN THE
P44
some good time there," Price said
at the end of Stage Three. "Unfor-
tunately, towards the end of the
stage, we came across another
rider who had crashed (Buhler),
so we stopped to help him, call
the helicopter, and make sure
nobody else was in danger. So,
it's been a bit of an up and down
day, but we're here in the bivouac
now, the bike is good and getting
serviced, and I'm ready for more
of the same tomorrow."
Skyler Howes' Honda debut has
been up and down but as of Stage
Three, the Utah man appears to
be getting the hang of it. Howes
took fourth on Stage Three, hoist
-
ing him up to 13th overall but still
41:45 from the lead.
The Dakar has been a bitter
one for Mason Klein. The young
American shocked the rally com
-
munity by switching from KTM to
Chinese brand Kove for the 2024
Dakar Rally and only got his bike
hours before scrutineering was
due to close in Saudi Arabia.
A solid start had Klein sitting
10th after the Prologue, which
improved to third after a stel-
lar performance on Stage One
where he opened the track for
the rest to follow. Then it all
came to a grinding halt on Stage
Two with an oil pump problem
losing Klein over two hours in re-
pairs. Yet more drama followed
on Stage Three with another
engine problem, which has seen
him drop over nine hours behind
the race lead to 114th place as
of Stage Three.
Klein's American compatriot
Jacob Argubright (KTM) was
enjoying a good start to his 2024
Dakar Rally, sitting 23rd after
Stage Two but a terminal engine
failure on Stage Three saw Argu-
bright have to take the helicopter
to the bivouac, ruling him out of
further contention. He is still al-
lowed to complete the rally if he
so chooses/has enough parts to
fix his KTM, but he's out of any
official placings.
The final two remaining Amer
-
icans, Weston Carr (Husqvarna)
and Kyle McCoy (Husqvarna)
are sitting in 102nd and 104th,
respectively.
CN
Dakar Rally Standings
(After Stage Three)
1. Ross Branch (Her) 14h 32:51
2. Jose Ignacio Cornejo (Hon) +3:11
3. Ricky Brabec (USA) (Hon) +5:08
4. Pablo Quintanilla (Hon) +16:16
5. Adrien Van Beveren (Hon) +20:16
Mason Klein's Dakar has
been a disaster so far on
the Kove. The American
shined on Stage One with
third after opening the stage
but has suffered two major
mechanical problems to
drop him to 114th overall at
the end of Stage Three.
