Dia sense problemes pels grans favorits per guanyar la 36ª edició del Rally Dakar en la categoria de motos. Joan Barreda manté el liderat tot i que Marc Coma li ha retallat una mica de temps, però la gran sorpresa la donat Matthias Walkner que s’ha emportat la tercera etapa entre San Juan i Chilecito de 220 quilòmetres d’especial.
Walkner, de només 28 anys, ha aprofitat una de les etapes més curtes de tot el Dakar per llançar una ofensiva imparable. El pilot austríac ha completat l’especial d’avui en poc més de dos hores i mitja que el col·loca a l’últim esglaó del podi de la general. El jove motorista de KTM ha superat totes les petites dificultats del dia i es consolida com una de las grans promeses de l’edició actual.
Pel que fa a la lluita per la general, Marc Coma ha recuperat part del territori perdut ahir. El pilot català ha superat Joan Barreda per un minut i 13 segons, una diferència que el situa a la quarta posició de la general i a pràcticament 11 minuts del pilot de Torreblanca.
Una altra de las grans promeses a la categoria de motos d’aquest any és, en aquestes primeres etapes, Toby Price. L’australià es manté en la lluita pel podi després d’aquestes tres primeres proves i espera mantenir aquest ritme durant les dues setmanes restants que queden d’aventura. Un ritme que ha perdut, tot i que no de forma desesperant, el portugués Paulo Gonçalves. El pilot de KTM ha deixat escapar quasi tres minuts respecte al guanyador d’avui, però es manté segon a la classificació general a poc més de 5 minuts del líder Joan Barreda.
Entre els pilots catalans, deixant de banda a Marc Coma, Jordi Viladoms i Joan Pedrero han tancat el Top Ten, mentre que Laia Sanz manté la seva regularitat que li permet progressar fins a la 16ª posició de la general.
L’etapa de demà podria ser un punt d’inflexió del Dakar 2015 després del petit descans d’avui. Els 315 quilòmetres d’especial entre Chilecito i Copiapó prometen emocions i imatges espectaculars per tots els aficionats. Els pilots patiran més que mai amb una ascensió fins arribar als 4.800 metres i afrontar els últims quilòmetres amb les impressionants dunes del desert d’Atacama.
Resultats:
| 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 |