The 629km third stage (227km liaison, 403km special) of the 2021 Dakar rally saw quite a few upsets from the motorcycle riders, with even top contenders like Joan Barreda Bort, Ricky Brabec and Pablo Quintanilla not cracking the top ten positions. However, our man Harith was actually quite pleased with his overall performance, even remarking that being able to ride Stage 3 (unlike last year) in itself seems like a step in the right direction.
In what was yet another fast but long stage, Harith put all his focus on minimising his mistakes. The fact that he was accompanied by KTM rider Camille Chapeliere and Husqvarna’s Maurizio Gerini till about the 150km mark meant there were lesser chances of him straying off the rally path. Even after the trio separated, though, Harith continued riding ‘in the zone,’ due to which he was not only on point with his navigation, but was also able to traverse through the particularly rocky sections without any significant loss in pace.
In fact, the Sherco Racing-sponsored privateer was even able to gain a few spots, finishing the stage at P27 (an improvement of four places from the previous stage), which in turn saw him retain his P31 spot in the overall standings. This will no doubt keep him in high spirits tomorrow, as he covers the whopping 813km (including a 337km special) Stage 4 from Wadi Ad-Dawasir to Riyadh, the longest stage thus far.