W2RC: Al Attiyah wins stage 3 and Loeb takes the lead in South Africa

The third stage of the South African Safari Rally reshuffled the positions in the battle for victory. The 246 timed kilometers back to Sun City witnessed the first win by a foreign driver in an Ultimate special stage on South African soil, with Nasser Al Attiyah taking the Dacia Sandrider to the top of the partial podium.

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Al Attiyah crossed the finish line with authority, though not without setbacks. A 2-minute penalty for speeding didn't prevent the Qatari from maintaining his victory by 5 seconds over Carlos Sainz. This marked the 44th win for the Dacia driver in W2RC and his sixth with the Sandrider since its 2024 debut.

The real change came with Lucas Moraes. The Brazilian Toyota driver lost the overall lead after receiving a 1-minute penalty, allowing Sébastien Loeb to inherit first position. The Frenchman now leads the standings by 23 seconds over Sainz and 30 over Henk Lategan.

Lategan seemed poised to maintain local dominance, but mechanical issues in the final kilometers relegated him to third place. The South African lost pace when he needed it most, surrendering positions to Al Attiyah and Sainz on a day that promised to be his.

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Moraes, now fourth at 56 seconds, maintains mathematical chances to regain the lead. His speed in timed sections suggests the battle is far from over, especially with the rally's longest stage scheduled for Friday.

Argentines lead in Challenger

David Zille of BBR Motorsport consolidated his advantage in the Challenger category with his second partial victory. The Argentine outperformed his compatriot and teammate Nicolás Cavigliasso by 2'51", extending his overall margin to 2'56". Adam Kuś remains third but now trails by over 11 minutes.

Franco extends SSV lead

Mário Franco capitalized on Alexandre Pinto's last-minute problems to secure his second partial win in the SSV category. The Francosport Portuguese driver now leads by 28'41" over Michele Cinotto, who repeated his second-place finish from the first stage.

The fourth stage presents the week's greatest challenge: 694 total kilometers with 224 timed. The start is scheduled for 8:30 am from Sun City, in a day that could define podium contenders' aspirations.

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Standings after Stage 3 of Safari Rally