Día sin problemas para los grandes favoritos para ganar la 36ª edición del Rally Dakar en la categoría de motos. Joan Barreda mantiene el liderato a pesar de que Marc Coma le recortó algo de tiempo, pero la gran sorpresa la dio Matthias Walkner que se llevó la tercera etapa entre San Juan y Chilecito de 220 quilómetros de especial.
Walkner, de tan solo 28 años, aprovechó una de las etapas más cortas de todo el Dakar para lanzar una ofensiva imparable. El piloto austríaco ha completado la especial de hoy en poco más de dos horas y media que le coloca en el último escalón del podio de la general. El joven motorista de KTM superó todas las pequeñas dificultades del día y se afianza como una de las grandes promesas de la edición actual.
Respecto a la lucha por la general, Marc Coma recuperó parte del territorio perdido de ayer. El piloto catalán superó a Joan Barreda por un minuto y 13 segundos, una diferencia que le sitúa en la cuarta posición de la general y a casi 11 minutos del piloto de Torreblanca.
Otra de las grandes promesas en la categoría de motos de este año es, al menos en estas primeras etapas, Toby Price. El australiano se mantiene en la lucha por el podio después de estas tres primeras pruebas y espera mantener este ritmo durante las dos semanas restantes que quedan de aventura. Un ritmo que ha perdido, aunque de no de forma desesperante, el portugués Paulo Gonçalves. El piloto de KTM ha dejado escapar casi tres minutos con el ganador de hoy, pero se mantiene segundo en la clasificación general a 5 minutos del líder Joan Barreda.
Entre los españoles más destacados, dejando de lado a los máximos candidatos a la victoria, Jordi Viladoms y Joan Pedrero han cerrado el Top Ten, mientras que Laia Sanz mantiene su regularidad que le permite ascender hasta la 16ª posición de la general.
La etapa de mañana puede ser un punto de inflexión del Dakar 2015 después del pequeño descanso de hoy. Los 315 quilómetros de especial entre Chilecito y Copiapó prometen emociones e imágenes espectaculares para todos los aficionados. Los pilotos sufrirán más que nunca con una ascensión hasta llegar a los 4.800 metros y afrontar los últimos quilómetros con las impresionantes dunas del desierto de Atacama.
Resultados:
| Pos. | Rider | Team | Time | Penalty | Gap | Int | |
| 1 | Matthias Walkner | AUT | KTM | 2:34:28 | |||
| 2 | Marc Coma | ESP | KTM | 2:35:08 | – | + 00:40 | |
| 3 | Joan Barreda Bort | ESP | HONDA | 2:36:21 | – | + 01:53 | + 01:13 |
| 4 | Toby Price | AUS | KTM | 2:37:13 | – | + 02:45 | + 00:52 |
| 5 | Paulo Goncalves | PRT | HONDA | 2:37:17 | – | + 02:49 | + 00:04 |
| 6 | Alain Duclos | FRA | SHERCO TVS | 2:37:39 | – | + 03:11 | + 00:22 |
| 7 | Ruben Faria | PRT | KTM | 2:37:54 | – | + 03:26 | + 00:15 |
| 8 | Jeremias Israel Esquerre | CHL | HONDA | 2:38:30 | – | + 04:02 | + 00:36 |
| 9 | Jordi Viladoms | ESP | KTM | 2:39:04 | – | + 04:36 | + 00:34 |
| 10 | Juan Pedrero Garcia | ESP | YAMAHA | 2:39:49 | – | + 05:21 | + 00:45 |
| 11 | Sam Sunderland | GBR | KTM | 2:39:51 | – | + 05:23 | + 00:02 |
| 12 | Pablo Quintanilla | CHL | KTM | 2:40:07 | – | + 05:39 | + 00:16 |
| 13 | Stefan Svitko | SVK | KTM | 2:40:43 | – | + 06:15 | + 00:36 |
| 14 | Alessandro Botturi | ITA | YAMAHA | 2:40:44 | – | + 06:16 | + 00:01 |
| 15 | Helder Rodrigues | PRT | HONDA | 2:41:29 | – | + 07:01 | + 00:45 |
| 16 | Michael Metge | FRA | YAMAHA | 2:42:19 | – | + 07:51 | + 00:50 |
| 17 | Laia Sanz Pla-Giribert | ESP | HONDA | 2:43:56 | – | + 09:28 | + 01:37 |
| 18 | Ivan Jakes | SVK | KTM | 2:44:10 | – | + 09:42 | + 00:14 |
| 19 | David Casteu | FRA | KTM | 2:44:22 | – | + 09:54 | + 00:12 |
| 20 | Riaan Van Niekerk | ZAF | KTM | 2:44:35 | – | + 10:07 | + 00:13 |
| 21 | Olivier Pain | FRA | YAMAHA | 2:46:03 | – | + 11:35 | + 01:28 |
| 22 | Hans Vogels | NLD | KTM | 2:48:10 | – | + 13:42 | + 02:07 |
| 23 | Xavier De Soultrait | FRA | YAMAHA | 2:50:06 | – | + 15:38 | + 01:56 |
| 24 | Daniel Gouet | CHL | HONDA | 2:50:21 | – | + 15:53 | + 00:15 |
| 25 | Patricio Cabrera | CHL | KAWASAKI | 2:51:18 | – | + 16:50 | + 00:57 |
| 26 | Fabien Planet | FRA | SHERCO TVS | 2:52:02 | – | + 17:34 | + 00:44 |
| 27 | Jakub Przygonski | POL | KTM | 2:53:02 | – | + 18:34 | + 01:00 |
| 28 | Txomin Arana Cobeaga | ESP | YAMAHA | 2:54:10 | – | + 19:42 | + 01:08 |
| 29 | Franck Verhoestraete | COG | SHERCO | 2:54:35 | – | + 20:07 | + 00:25 |
| 30 | Mario Patrao | PRT | SUZUKI | 2:54:57 | – | + 20:29 | + 00:22 |
| 31 | Romain Souvignet | FRA | KTM | 2:55:57 | – | + 21:29 | + 01:00 |
| 32 | Frans Verhoeven | NLD | YAMAHA | 2:57:26 | – | + 22:58 | + 01:29 |
| 33 | Marc Guasch | ESP | YAMAHA | 2:57:47 | – | + 23:19 | + 00:21 |
| 34 | Jean De Azevedo | BRA | HONDA | 3:00:10 | – | + 25:42 | + 02:23 |
| 35 | Javier Pizzolito | ARG | HONDA | 3:00:11 | – | + 25:43 | + 00:01 |
| 36 | Juan Carlos Salvatierra | BOL | KTM | 3:00:13 | 01:00 | + 25:45 | + 00:02 |
| 37 | David Pabiska | CZE | KTM | 3:00:35 | – | + 26:07 | + 00:22 |
| 38 | Thomas Berglund | SWE | KTM | 3:01:28 | – | + 27:00 | + 00:53 |
| 39 | Paolo Ceci | ITA | KTM | 3:02:04 | – | + 27:36 | + 00:36 |
| 40 | Emanuel Gyenes | ROU | KTM | 3:02:33 | – | + 28:05 | + 00:29 |
| 41 | Zden?k Gottvald | CZE | HUSQVARNA | 3:03:49 | – | + 29:21 | + 01:16 |
| 42 | Florent Vayssade | FRA | SHERCO | 3:06:24 | – | + 31:56 | + 02:35 |
| 43 | German Fernandez | URY | KAWASAKI | 3:06:39 | – | + 32:11 | + 00:15 |
| 44 | Esteban Ariel Lopez Jove | ARG | KAWASAKI | 3:06:48 | – | + 32:20 | + 00:09 |
| 45 | Milan Engel | CZE | KTM | 3:07:53 | – | + 33:25 | + 01:05 |
| 46 | Jurgen Van Den Goorbergh | NLD | KTM | 3:08:17 | – | + 33:49 | + 00:24 |
| 47 | Ondrej Klymciw | CZE | KTM | 3:09:09 | – | + 34:41 | + 00:52 |
| 48 | Miran Stanovnik | SVN | KTM | 3:10:36 | – | + 36:08 | + 01:27 |
| 49 | Michael Pisano | FRA | KTM | 3:10:38 | – | + 36:10 | + 00:02 |
| 50 | Jakub Piatek | POL | KTM | 3:11:22 | – | + 36:54 | + 00:44 |
| 51 | Bruno Da Costa | FRA | YAMAHA | 3:12:15 | – | + 37:47 | + 00:53 |
| 52 | Hugo Payen | FRA | YAMAHA | 3:13:59 | – | + 39:31 | + 01:44 |
| 53 | David Gregory Reeve | ZMB | KTM | 3:14:33 | – | + 40:05 | + 00:34 |
| 54 | Mauro Ayesa | ARG | BETA | 3:15:16 | – | + 40:48 | + 00:43 |
| 55 | Marco Brioschi | ITA | KTM | 3:15:37 | – | + 41:09 | + 00:21 |
| 56 | Francisco Errazuriz | CHL | HUQSVARNA | 3:15:53 | – | + 41:25 | + 00:16 |
| 57 | Jan Van Gerven | NLD | KTM | 3:16:33 | – | + 42:05 | + 00:40 |
| 58 | Laurent Lazard | URY | KTM | 3:18:32 | – | + 44:04 | + 01:59 |
| 59 | Alberto Santiago Ontiveros | ARG | BETA | 3:18:44 | – | + 44:16 | + 00:12 |
| 60 | Mart Meeru | EST | HONDA | 3:20:13 | – | + 45:45 | + 01:29 |
| 61 | Fabricio Fuentes | BOL | KTM | 3:20:17 | – | + 45:49 | + 00:04 |
| 62 | Kevin Echeveste | ARG | HONDA | 3:20:31 | – | + 46:03 | + 00:14 |
| 63 | Patrice Carillon | FRA | KTM | 3:21:28 | – | + 47:00 | + 00:57 |
| 64 | Mauricio Javier Gomez | ARG | YAMAHA | 3:22:10 | – | + 47:42 | + 00:42 |
| 65 | Janos Desi | HUN | KTM | 3:22:15 | – | + 47:47 | + 00:05 |
| 66 | Jan Vesely | CZE | KTM | 3:22:35 | – | + 48:07 | + 00:20 |
| 67 | Santosh Chunchunguppe Shivashankar | IND | KTM | 3:23:27 | – | + 48:59 | + 00:52 |
| 68 | Mateo Moreno Kristiansen | COL | KTM | 3:23:39 | – | + 49:11 | + 00:12 |
| 69 | Sjaak Martens | NLD | KTM | 3:23:44 | – | + 49:16 | + 00:05 |
| 70 | Damien Udry | CHE | KTM | 3:23:49 | – | + 49:21 | + 00:05 |
| 71 | Eduardo Heinrich | PER | SUZUKI | 3:24:37 | – | + 50:09 | + 00:48 |
| 72 | Alberto Brioschi | ITA | KTM | 3:24:50 | – | + 50:22 | + 00:13 |
| 73 | Albert Hintenaus | ZAF | KTM | 3:24:53 | – | + 50:25 | + 00:03 |
| 74 | Philippe Cavelius | FRA | KTM | 3:25:26 | – | + 50:58 | + 00:33 |
| 75 | Juan Esteban Sarmiento Ceron | COL | YAMAHA | 3:25:46 | – | + 51:18 | + 00:20 |
| 76 | Marcel Butuza | ROU | KTM | 3:26:36 | – | + 52:08 | + 00:50 |
| 77 | Pablo Oscar Pascual | ARG | KTM | 3:27:54 | – | + 53:26 | + 01:18 |
| 78 | Jorge Lacunza | ARG | KTM | 3:28:01 | – | + 53:33 | + 00:07 |
| 79 | Boldbaatar Damdinkhorloo | MNG | KTM | 3:28:43 | – | + 54:15 | + 00:42 |
| 80 | Francisco Arredondo | GTM | KTM | 3:28:54 | – | + 54:26 | + 00:11 |
| 81 | Carlos Gracida Garza | MEX | KTM | 3:29:58 | – | + 55:30 | + 01:04 |
| 82 | Llewellyn Sullivan-Pavey | AUS | KTM | 3:30:05 | – | + 55:37 | + 00:07 |
| 83 | Demian Guiral | ARG | HONDA | 3:30:30 | – | + 56:02 | + 00:25 |
| 84 | Roberto Gajdosech | ARG | YAMAHA | 3:32:32 | – | + 58:04 | + 02:02 |
| 85 | Felipe Rios | PER | KTM | 3:32:58 | – | + 58:30 | + 00:26 |
| 86 | Miguel Puertas | ESP | KTM | 3:34:46 | – | + 1:00:18 | + 01:48 |
| 87 | Marc Pedrola | ESP | YAMAHA | 3:35:32 | – | + 1:01:04 | + 00:46 |
| 88 | Eric Croquelois | FRA | KTM | 3:37:27 | – | + 1:02:59 | + 01:55 |
| 89 | Sergio Miguel Petrone | ARG | YAMAHA | 3:42:03 | – | + 1:07:35 | + 04:36 |
| 90 | Sakir Senkalayci | TUR | KTM | 3:43:48 | – | + 1:09:20 | + 01:45 |
| 91 | Serkan Ozdemir | TUR | KTM | 3:45:56 | – | + 1:11:28 | + 02:08 |
| 92 | Simon Pavey | AUS | KTM | 3:46:31 | – | + 1:12:03 | + 00:35 |
| 93 | Caspar Schellekens | NLD | KTM | 3:47:04 | – | + 1:12:36 | + 00:33 |
| 94 | Pawel Stasiaczek | POL | KTM | 3:48:06 | – | + 1:13:38 | + 01:02 |
| 95 | Jeroen Van Daele | NLD | HONDA | 3:48:09 | – | + 1:13:41 | + 00:03 |
| 96 | Domingo Fernandez Mendez | ESP | KTM | 3:48:51 | – | + 1:14:23 | + 00:42 |
| 97 | Melchior Van Heertum | NLD | KTM | 3:48:53 | – | + 1:14:25 | + 00:02 |
| 98 | Carlos Fernandez | ESP | KTM | 3:49:21 | – | + 1:14:53 | + 00:28 |
| 99 | Sebastian Alberto Urquia | ARG | YAMAHA | 3:49:48 | – | + 1:15:20 | + 00:27 |
| 100 | Guillaume Martens | NLD | KTM | 3:50:06 | – | + 1:15:38 | + 00:18 |
| 101 | Cristobal Andres Guldman Gonzalez | CHL | KAWASAKI | 3:50:07 | – | + 1:15:39 | + 00:01 |
| 102 | Caspar Van Heertum | NLD | KTM | 3:50:41 | – | + 1:16:13 | + 00:34 |
| 103 | Jasper Riezebos | NLD | KTM | 3:54:43 | – | + 1:20:15 | + 04:02 |
| 104 | Matteo Casuccio | ITA | GASGAS | 3:56:24 | – | + 1:21:56 | + 01:41 |
| 105 | Jan Bastiaan Nijen Twilhaar | NLD | KTM | 3:58:02 | – | + 1:23:34 | + 01:38 |
| 106 | Henno Van Bergeijk | NLD | HUSABERG | 3:58:46 | – | + 1:24:18 | + 00:44 |
| 107 | Antonio Gimeno García | ESP | KTM | 4:00:24 | – | + 1:25:56 | + 01:38 |
| 108 | Rosa Romero Font | ESP | KTM | 4:00:46 | – | + 1:26:18 | + 00:22 |
| 109 | Thierry Domenach | FRA | KTM | 4:02:35 | – | + 1:28:07 | + 01:49 |
| 110 | Francesco Catanese | ITA | YAMAHA | 4:03:52 | – | + 1:29:24 | + 01:17 |
| 111 | Juan Suarez Zapata | ARG | KAWASAKI | 4:05:14 | – | + 1:30:46 | + 01:22 |
| 112 | Jean-Christophe Menard | FRA | KTM | 4:05:55 | – | + 1:31:27 | + 00:41 |
| 113 | Charles Monier | FRA | KTM | 4:08:54 | – | + 1:34:26 | + 02:59 |
| 114 | Christopher Cork | GBR | HUSQVARNA | 4:10:09 | – | + 1:35:41 | + 01:15 |
| 115 | Marco Reinike | CHL | KTM | 4:13:08 | – | + 1:38:40 | + 02:59 |
| 116 | Pierre Cherpin | FRA | KTM | 4:15:31 | – | + 1:41:03 | + 02:23 |
| 117 | Axel Heilenkotter | CHL | HUQSVARNA | 4:17:37 | – | + 1:43:09 | + 02:06 |
| 118 | Erik Klomp | NLD | HONDA | 4:18:42 | – | + 1:44:14 | + 01:05 |
| 119 | Manuel Garcia | ESP | YAMAHA | 4:20:42 | – | + 1:46:14 | + 02:00 |
| 120 | Leon Amespil | ARG | YAMAHA | 4:21:54 | – | + 1:47:26 | + 01:12 |
| 121 | Charles Cuypers | FRA | KTM | 4:22:19 | – | + 1:47:51 | + 00:25 |
| 122 | Carlo Vellutino | PER | KTM | 4:27:46 | – | + 1:53:18 | + 05:27 |
| 123 | Koray Ozkaplan | TUR | KTM | 4:28:46 | – | + 1:54:18 | + 01:00 |
| 124 | Selcuk Bektas | TUR | KTM | 4:32:12 | – | + 1:57:44 | + 03:26 |
| 125 | Clayton Jacobsen | AUS | KTM | 4:35:41 | – | + 2:01:13 | + 03:29 |
| 126 | Mikael Berglund | SWE | KTM | 4:49:59 | – | + 2:15:31 | + 14:18 |
| 127 | Antonio Narino | USA | HUSQVARNA | 4:50:13 | – | + 2:15:45 | + 00:14 |
| 128 | Guido Martinelli | ARG | KAWASAKI | 4:50:50 | – | + 2:16:22 | + 00:37 |
| 129 | Diego Martin Penalva | ARG | YAMAHA | 4:53:14 | – | + 2:18:46 | + 02:24 |
| 130 | Anar Chinbataar | MNG | KTM | 4:58:49 | – | + 2:24:21 | + 05:35 |
| 131 | Gerard Farres Guell | ESP | GASGAS | 5:02:43 | – | + 2:28:15 | + 03:54 |
| 132 | Humphrey Sennvanbasel | NLD | KTM | 5:09:04 | – | + 2:34:36 | + 06:21 |
| 133 | Anders Berglund | SWE | HUSABERG | 5:14:02 | – | + 2:39:34 | + 04:58 |
| 134 | Frederic Millet | FRA | KTM | 5:24:17 | – | + 2:49:49 | + 10:15 |
| 135 | Diocleziano Toia | ITA | KTM | 5:37:14 | – | + 3:02:46 | + 12:57 |
| 136 | Alain Delaunay | FRA | HONDA | 5:54:49 | – | + 3:20:21 | + 17:35 |
| 137 | Yvan Reynaud | FRA | HONDA | 5:55:28 | – | + 3:21:00 | + 00:39 |
| 138 | Wessel Bosman | ZAF | KTM | 7:09:43 | 1:00:00 | + 4:35:15 | + 1:14:15 |
| 139 | Juan Sebastian Toro | COL | KAWASAKI | 7:50:48 | 1:15:00 | + 5:16:20 | + 41:05 |