VOL. 55 ISSUE 1 JANUARY 9, 2018 P49
3. The 2016 Dakar champion
crashed out of the 2017 event
with a badly shattered femur,
and has no intention of repeating
his misfortune in 2018.
The Aussie had a strong
showing in stage 3, though not
without incident, finishing third
not far behind Monster Energy
Honda's Kevin Benavides. Price
now moves into third overall, well
within striking distance of the
lead.
"Today was not so bad," Price
said. "We had a couple of small
crashes and the navigation
tower wasn't rolling my road-
book through, so I was having
to do it manually sometimes.
The pace is definitely here and
we know we can still run at the
front. We're going to make sure
we look after the bike, look after
ourselves and avoid making
those little crashes."
American Dakar rookie An-
drew Short is another rider who
is taking it steady in the early
going. The Rockstar Energy
Husqvarna rider remains fo-
cused on learning navigation and
avoiding mistakes. At the end of
stage 3, Short sits 27th overall,
having put in steady performanc-
es each day.
Returning American rider
Ricky Brabec took a big step for-
ward on stage 3, finishing fourth
only seconds behind Price,
moving into fourth overall. But
the Monster Energy Honda rider
knows there is a lot left to play
for in the next two weeks. CN
Overall Standings (after stage 3)
1. Sam Sunderland (KTM)
2. Kevin Benavides (Hon) +3:03
3. Toby Price (KTM) +3:28
4. Ricky Brabec (Hon) +3:55
5. Pablo Quintanilla (Hus) +4:20
6. G. Farres Guell (Yam) +5:08
7. Stefan Svitko (KTM) +6:03
8. Antoine Meo (KTM) +6:23
27. Andrew Short (Hus) +24:19
28. Shane Esposito (KTM) +26:08
71. Mark Samuels (Hon) +1:17:30
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
PHOTOSDAKAR.COM
(Left) The soft sand
dunes of Peru have
been tiring and difficult
to navigate, but
defending champion
Sam Sunderland leads
the way.
(Below) Andrew
Short heads into the
Peruvian dunes for
stage 2 of the 2018
Dakar Rally.
