First Dakar stage win for Variawa as Lategan extends overall lead

Stage 3 of the 2025 Dakar Rally saw all six Toyota Gazoo Racing crews record solid performances, including a stage win by Saood Variawa and Francois Cazalet, while Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings extended their overall lead at the top of the standings.

The third stage of the rally started near the bivouac at Bisha before taking the competitors in a northeasterly direction to the town of Al Henakiyah. The timed section of the stage was shortened to 327km after heavy rain in the area. This came as a relief to many of the competitors after the rigours of the 48-hour Chrono that preceded stage 3.

Variawa and co-driver Francois Cazalet (#218) faced a tough task on stage three. The pair had suffered a crash near the end of stage 2 and arrived in the bivouac very late. The team's technicians managed to fully repair the car, and the GR Hilux EVO crew were set to start the stage on time this morning.

Variawa, at just 19 years of age, bounced back from the disappointment of stage 2 to take the stage victory on stage 3 three, even with a puncture in the closing kilometres of the stage. Despite the stunning performance, Variawa remains well back in the overall standings, more than 7hr 47min behind the leaders.

The leaders are Variawa's teammates, Henk Lategan and co-driver Brett Cummings (#211). The South African pair drove a steady stage yesterday, despite very rocky conditions. They were also hamstrung by faulty navigation equipment, but managed to restrict their time loss to only 7min 31sec to Variawa/Cazalet. Crucially, they increased their lead in the overall standings to 7min 17sec. Lategan/Cummings will start stage 4 in 12th place on the road, putting them in a prime position from which to attack.

Stage 3 also saw a fantastic performance by Seth Quintero and Dennis Zenz in the #204 GR Hilux EVO. The duo also suffered a puncture, which they had to stop and change, but despite this they were in contention for the stage win. In the end, they trailed Variawa/Cazalet by only 1min 48sec, putting them in third place for the stage. This saw them move into 10th place in the overall standings, and take up a position in the coveted Top 10.

Lucas Moraes and Armand Monleon were the next fastest TGR crew, despite losing brake pressure over the closing 100km of the stage. With very little braking performance, the Brazilian driver overshot in a tight corner, and suffered a puncture as he briefly went off piste. This cost the #203 crew some time, but they completed the stage in ninth place, and find themselves in 5th place overall, 19min 40sec behind the overall lead.

Stage 2 was dramatic for TGR's Giniel de Villiers and Dirk von Zitzewitz (#206). The veteran duo was involved in a collision near the end of the stage, and lost more than two hours as a result. Despite the setback, they rebounded in stage 3, posting the 10th-best time of the day, 6min 32sec behind Variawa/Cazalet.

De Villiers said he was cautious through the rocky sections, which may have cost him time, but the good stage result sees him in 30th place overall, 2hr 18min 26sec behind Lategan/Cummings at the head of the field. Even so, there is a lot of racing to come, and the crew remain hopeful to claw their way back into the Top 10.

The final TGR crew of Guy Botterill and Dennis Murphy (#205) powered through challenging conditions to record the 11th-fastest time on stage 3. This was an incredible performance that saw them finish the stage 6min 33sec off the pace set by Variawa/Cazalet. They had lost significant time on stage 2 after a problem with the rear differential of their car. Without the benefit of four-wheel drive, they were forced to bypass a section of dunes near the end of the stage, and were heavily penalised for missing waypoints in the process.

Botterill, driving in only his second Dakar Rally, was able to improve his starting position for stage 4 after he was forced to start stage 3 as the 147th car on the road. Starting so far down the order is a daunting task at the Dakar Rally as the dust gaps are minimal, and there are many trucks and slower competitors who make the going tough for a fast crew such as this. The crew passed as many as 100 competitors despite the dust to vault into the Top 15 on the stage.

With three difficult stages done in this year's event, the rally has proven exceptionally tough, even by Dakar standards. Next up is stage 4, which is also the marathon stage. The crews will leave from Al Henakiyah to the northern city of Alula via a special stage of 415km. Liaisons totalling 173km will also have to be negotiated before the crews overnight in a special bivouac without their service crews. Here they will have to work on their cars themselves, preparing them for the final stage of the opening week, which will take them to the city of Hail, and the much-needed rest day.

Post-stage driver quotes

Saood Variawa

"Yeah, it was really good. We got a good rhythm from the start, but also a lot of dust. Unfortunately, we had one-minute gaps from where we started after yesterday. But we picked them off one by one. And towards the end, we chased down the Ford and caught the Ford, put him under pressure. He got a puncture. We passed him, caught Giniel, passed him. Then we got to the last 5km, we had a puncture. So we had to take it easy. But a stage win, so I think I'm happy."

Seth Quintero

"Started off all right. We were behind a couple of guys in the dust and played it super patient. I figured people are going to make some mistakes today trying to make up time after the 48-hour. I think we did a great job. I got a slow leak with about 40km to go and had to change that out. But all in all, it was a good time."

Lucas Moraes

"I'm glad the organisation made the stage shorter because we had no brakes for the last 100km. I overshot a corner because of of this and then we got a puncture. So we just survived today but I'm glad that we didn't lose too much time. We are here and that's the most important thing."

Giniel de Villiers

"It was okay. At least we had a clean stage. We maybe were a little bit too careful in the rocks, but with so many rocks today, it was easy to get a puncture. We are happy to be close to the top 10, so we'll see. Tomorrow is the marathon stage, so that'll be tricky as well."

Guy Botterill

"Today was a very tough one, given where we started on the road. There was so much dust, it was extremely tricky to pass. But we ended up passing more than 100 competitors, and I'm really pleased with our result. We had a puncture early on, and about 10 vehicles passed us again, but we managed to push hard throughout the stage. This puts us back into the top starting positions for tomorrow, which should make things much easier for the marathon stage."

Henk Lategan

"It was a decent stage for us. We didn't get out of the car. There were a lot of rocks, so very easy to get punctures and make big mistakes. But we kept it clean and we kept a good, constant pace for the whole stage. Our ERTF, or the navigation system, stopped working quite early on. So we had no way of letting the bikes or the cars in front of us know that we are coming. We also had no way of knowing there are cars coming from behind. It was very frustrating, but we'll calm down tonight and then think about tomorrow."

This article was sponsored by Toyota.