It’s been a whirlwind ten months for Murun Purevdorj. After being the top bike at last July’s Silk Way Rally and scoring a top 20 in class at his second Dakar Rally in January, he can now add a World Rally-Raid Championship stage victory to his résumé.
Purevdorj beat Gonçalo Amaral by seven minutes for the Rally3 stage victory on Friday, ending the latter’s win streak. He has no chance of winning the overall after retiring from Stage 1, leaving him dead last among the five Rally3 riders still running and six hours behind Amaral.
Still, he’s been keen on salvaging the rest of the race. The Mongolian was second to Amaral on Thursday before winning Stage 3, and had also been runner-up in the Prologue.
He technically wasn’t the only first-time winner on Friday either.
Lucas Moraes scored his maiden stage win as a Dacia driver, leading a 1–2 finish for the Sandriders ahead of Sébastien Loeb. Loeb was 1:46 back of Moraes, building his overall lead from just 40 seconds entering Stage 3 to 1:27 on Seth Quintero. Moraes also moves up to third overall and seven seconds behind Quintero.
The FIA overall is shaping up to be a battle of Dacia and Toyota as Moraes and Loeb are surrounded by Hiluxes. Toyota additionally took a blow when Henk Lategan, who struggled across the first two days with crashing into trees, wrecked again.
“We came over a blind crest and into a sharp right-hander,” Lategan explained. “We were at quite high speed and didn’t have enough time to slow down. I tried to go for a small gap between a tree and some rocks but unfortunately under the grass there was a dip and a small wall. That kicked the back of the car up and it went end-over-end.
“The car took a lot of damage, but me and Brett (Cummings) are fine. The car is too damaged to carry on tomorrow. I feel sorry for the team and, of course, disappointed, but we will come back stronger.”
Quintero also had to deal with two flats while leading, though he still moved up into second after fellow Toyota driver Guy Botterill lost his windshield to a low-hanging branch and suffered a late puncture. Yazeed Al-Rajhi was the top Toyota for the stage in third, 2:18 behind Moraes.
On the other hand, it wasn’t all good news for Dacia. Points leader Nasser Al-Attiyah had to retire with an electrical failure caused by the batteries running dry from false positive signals being transmitted. The team theorizes it has to do with the car going through so many water crossings throughout the first half of the rally.
While the BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Portugal’s car batle is Dacia vs. Toyota, Daniel Sanders has a bit of breathing room between himself and the Hondas in FIM.
Bruno Santos continued to impress as he was second quickest overall for the second day in a row, 59 seconds back of Sanders. The Rally2 rider also moved into a tie for third overall with Adrien Van Beveren, while Sanders doubled his margin on second-placed Tosha Schareina to 3:11.
Ricky Brabec had a dismal outing. After going into the stage fifth overall, he dropped out of the top ten down to 11th after falling over in a water hole.
“I don’t really understand this rally as the water holes are very deep,” Brabec admitted. “Where I’m from, we don’t ride across water crossings. I don’t know the best way to get through them so I’m doing the best job I can.”
Mindaugas Sidabras rolled his car, but managed to reach the finish even if 57-and-a-half minutes behind SSV winner Luís Cidade. Classmate Matthias Walkner lost 4WD for the second time because of the differential breaking.
Stage winners
FIA
| Class | Overall | Number | Driver | Team | Total Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ultimate | 1 | 223 | Lucas Moraes | Dacia Sandriders | 2:46:25 |
| Challenger | 9 | 301 | Alexandre Pinto | Old Friends Rally Team | 2:53:13 |
| SSV | 14 | 403 | Luís Cidade | South Racing | 2:59:09 |
| Stock | 16 | 500 | Stéphane Peterhansel | Defender Rally | 2:59:56 |
FIM
| Class | Overall | Number | Rider | Team | Total Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RallyGP | 1 | 1 | Daniel Sanders | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 2:37:55 |
| Rally2 | 2 | 35 | Bruno Santos | BS Frutas Patrícia Pilar | 2:38:54 |
| Rally3 | 22 | 79 | Murun Purevdorj | Xraids Experience | 3:15:59 |
| Quad | 26 | 171 | Antanas Kanopkinas | CFMOTO Thunder Racing Team | 3:23:26 |
| Experimental | 34 | 17 | Pedro Bianchi Prata* | Offroad Center Bianchi Prata | 3:47:56 |
Overall leaders
FIA
| Class | Overall | Number | Driver | Team | Total Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ultimate | 1 | 219 | Sébastien Loeb | Dacia Sandriders | 7:10:24 |
| Challenger | 11 | 301 | Alexandre Pinto | Old Friends Rally Team | 7:34:52 |
| SSV | 13 | 408 | Luís Portela Morais* | BP Ultimate Adventure Team | 7:36:52 |
| Stock | 18 | 500 | Stéphane Peterhansel | Defender Rally | 7:45:16 |
FIM
| Class | Overall | Number | Rider | Team | Total Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RallyGP | 1 | 1 | Daniel Sanders | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 7:07:50 |
| Rally2 | 3 | 35 | Bruno Santos | BS Frutas Patrícia Pilar | 7:13:21 |
| Rally3 | 20 | 69 | Gonçalo Amaral | Wingmotor Honda | 8:29:58 |
| Quad | 23 | 173 | Adomas Gančierius | CFMOTO Thunder Racing Team | 8:52:16 |
| Experimental | 35 | 17 | Pedro Bianchi Prata* | Offroad Center Bianchi Prata | 10:41:00 |
Featured image credit: Edoardo Bauer / Edophoto / DPPI / ASO
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