Only three stages in and the Morocco Desert Challenge has already been turned upside down. Several who were leading their classes entering Monday lost the top spots due to vehicle problems.

Mitchel van den Brink is the most prominent example. Despite winning the first two days, his Hilux lost four-wheel drive shortly after starting Stage 3. When he stopped to address another mechanical issue, his service truck broke down.

Although he reached the finish, he received a 25-hour penalty for failing to complete at least 50% of the stage as he went off the route to make repairs. This dropped him to 18th overall and out of contention for the win.

“Things certainly didn’t go smoothly, but we did make it to the finish line,” he remarked. “In the coming stages, we’ll be aiming to go for the daily victory once again.”

His dad Martin was out of luck too. He spent 15 minutes helping Mitchel out of the dunes before his truck got stop on the higehst dune. Unlike his son, he didn’t have anyone to help him so he, Siënna, and Hans had to dig the truck out on their own.

While the older van den Brink’s troubles kept him from contending, eventual stage winner Kay Huzink had his problems too. A particularly tricky piece of navigation sent him off course for ten minutes, but he still convincingly won by 36 minutes.

Bike leader David McBride had a tough day at the office as he finished seventh and 33 minutes behind winner Julien Dalbec. McBride falls to second as a result, trailing Dalbec by 26:28.

Magdalena Zając also now leads for T1 4×4 despite getting stuck in the dunes at one moment.

Like van den Brink, Ronald van Loon had problems at the start when the mounting bracket for the front alternator broke loose from the differential, causing oil to leak. Fortunately, the Hilux had another alternator that allowed him to complete the stage. André Thewessen also had a scare when the suspension broke, costing him an hour and a half.

Stage winners

Bikes

Class	Overall	Number	Rider	Team	Total Time
Bike	1	105	Julien Dalbec	Rallye 583	4:17:35
Veterans Cup	4	102	Richard Dors	Vendetta Racing	4:37:01
Ladies Cup	26	119	Beatriz Diez	Club Aventura Touareg	6:59:00

Cars

Class	Overall	Number	Driver	Team	Total Time
T1+	2	304	Vincent Thijs	RT Offroad	3:50:14
T1 4×4	8	309	Magdalena Zając	Proxcars TME Rally Team	4:24:35
T1 4×2	1	303	Agostino Rizzardi	Countrysideways	3:46:21
T2	11	323	Ernst Amort	RZR Racing	5:11:40

SSVs

Class	Overall	Number	Driver	Team	Total Time
T3	1	203	Gert Huzink	QFF Racing	3:46:27
T4	2	204	Paulo Rodrigues	Rio Seco Racing	3:48:56
Open	12	241	Paolo Scalzotto	RZR Racing	4:21:03

Trucks

Class	Overall	Number	Driver	Team	Total Time
T5	1	501	Kay Huzink	Kuipers-Jongbloed Hybrid / Team de Rooy	3:56:07
T5 Over 15	7	508	Steve Ingels	RR Belgica	8:45:00
T5 Over 20	6	507	Fons Jans	Hamer Rally Team	5:47:55

Overall leaders

Bikes

Class	Overall	Number	Rider	Team	Total Time
Bike	1	105	Julien Dalbec	Rallye 583	9:58:57
Veterans Cup	2	104	David McBride	Vendetta Racing	10:25:25
Ladies Cup	24	119	Beatriz Diez	Club Aventura Touareg	17:15:01

Cars

Class	Overall	Number	Driver	Team	Total Time
T1+	1	306	Ronald van Loon	Oase Motorsport	8:32:57
T1 4×4	5	309	Magdalena Zając	Proxcars TME Rally Team	9:55:23
T1 4×2	3	303	Agostino Rizzardi	Countrysideways	8:39:48
T2	12	323	Ernst Amort	RZR Racing	12:07:39

SSVs

Class	Overall	Number	Driver	Team	Total Time
T3	2	203	Gert Huzink	QFF Racing	8:42:27
T4	1	204	Paulo Rodrigues	Rio Seco Racing	8:38:01
Open	10	232	Josep Rojas	Procurve	10:02:40

Featured image credit: Jan Van Gelder / Photo Vision