Sam Sunderland has retaken the lead of the 2018 Dakar Rally in the bikes category after winning the third stage, as overnight leader Joan Barreda lost considerable time. Defending champion Sunderland picked up his second win of the rally – and the fourth of his Dakar career – on the 296km Pisco-San Juan de Marcona test, having slipped to fourth overall on Sunday.
The Dubai-based Briton led through the opening three waypoints, before losing the lead to KTM teammate Toby Price and then Husqvarna’s Pablo Quintanilla, who was set to win the stage until dropping some four minutes in the closing stages.
That opened the way for Sunderland to take honours by 3m03s from nearest rival Kevin Benavides (Honda), with Quintanilla slipping to fifth behind Price and Ricky Brabec (Honda).
It means Sunderland now leads the rally by 4m38s from Benavides, Quintanilla and Price, while Brabec has moved into the top five at the expense of Matthias Walkner (KTM), who dropped nine minutes to Sunderland.
While KTM now has three of its riders in the top six overall, the stage dealt a blow to the hopes of rival marques Honda and Yamaha.
Honda’s Barreda, who went into the stage with a slim 2m30s lead, dropped almost 28 minutes after a late navigational error, while Yamaha’s Xavier de Soultrait lost 13 minutes making the same mistake.
Lead Yamaha rider Adrian van Beveren, second overnight, also dropped 12 minutes and now lies seventh overall, 10m37s off the lead.
Antoine Meo (KTM), Michael Metge (Honda) and Franco Caimi (Yamaha) make up the overall top 10.
Source: Motorsport.com
Standings after Stage 3 (top 10):
| Pos. | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap |
| 1 |  Sam Sunderland |
KTM | 6h44m23s |
| 2 |  Kevin Benavides |
Honda | 4m38s |
| 3 |  Pablo Quintanilla |
Husqvarna | 5m00s |
| 4 |  Toby Price |
KTM | 7m28s |
| 5 |  Ricky Brabec |
Honda | 8m00s |
| 6 |  Matthias Walkner |
KTM | 8m50s |
| 7 |  Adrien van Beveren |
Yamaha | 10m37s |
| 8 | Antoine Meo |
KTM | 10m54s |