45th Dakar Rally – December 31st, 2022-January 15th, 2023
2023 FIA World Rally-Raid Championship, round 1
For immediate release
Sunday, January 15th, 2023
RED BULL OFF-ROAD JUNIOR TEAM DRIVER AUSTIN JONES
WINS T3 CATEGORY AT DAKAR RALLY
• Red Bull Can-Ams fill four of top five places in competitive T3 class
• Red Bull Can-Am Factory Team’s Rokas Baciuška finishes second in T4
DAMMAM (SAUDI ARABIA): The newly-established Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team USA presented by BF Goodrich secured a stunning victory at the 45th Dakar Rally and Red Bull-supported Can-Ams finished first, second, fourth and fifth overall in the T3 lightweight prototype category and second overall in the T4 section at the finish in Damman on Sunday.
American racer Austin Jones represented the Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team USA presented by BF Goodrich for the first time and steered his South-Racing-built Can-Am to victory in T3 at his first attempt, just 12 months after he secured similar success in the T4 section at the 2022 Dakar Rally. The Arizona driver and Brazilian co-driver Gustavo Gugelmin led for the last four days and won one stage on their way to a winning margin of 52min 05sec.
Jones duly became the youngest racer to win back-to-back Dakars and the first to do so in two different categories.
At the finish of the final stage, he said: "The last stage was pretty tough. There was a lot of mud, got a little stressed out about it, but we made it through to the finish. This has been the toughest Dakar that I have ever done. We've had ups and downs, but we just stayed consistent, did our thing and look at us, back-to-back, huh? Two years in a row, baby… We're super happy, big shout-out to all the team and my navigator, Gustavo, did a good job. It was a nice little road trip around Saudi Arabia. I can't think about next year now, but I'll be back."
Red Bull team-mates, Seth Quintero and Dennis Zenz, won two specials on their way to second overall and a similar position in the T3 category of the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) after the first round.
With the third-placed Belgian finisher Guillaume de Mévius not registered for the W2RC series, Red Bull Can-Am Factory Team driver Cristina Gutiérrez picked up points for third in W2RC by finishing fourth overall with fellow Spaniard Pablo Moreno Hueta. The defending Extreme E champion also netted the fastest time on the Prologue and the final stage on Sunday.
Francisco ‘Chaleco’ López is a three-time former Dakar winner and the Chilean teamed up with Spain’s Oriol Mena to round off the top five and collect W2RC points for fourth overall in T3. López won the opening special and led for two days but, like Gutierrez, he lost a lot of time stuck in raging flood water after heavy rain and treacherous conditions put a damper on proceedings during the first week of the event before the rest day in Riyadh.
Rokas Baciuška represented the Red Bull Can-Am Factory Team in the T4 category with Spain’s Oriol Vidal for the first time.
The Lithuanian won the opening Prologue stage and held the outright lead from stage seven to the start of the final stage, only for a cruel technical issue to cost him around 15 minutes and see him fall behind Poland’s Eryk Goczal and lose out on the category win by just 16min 44sec.
The delay meant that he also missed out on becoming the youngest ever winner of the category – a record that was earned by Austin Jones in 2022. The outcome was all the more frustrating after the youngster had been awarded a 15-minute time penalty early in the race for a minor route violation.
The second round of the 2023 FIA World Rally-Raid Championship takes place across the dunes of Abu Dhabi on February 24th-March 3rd.
45th Dakar Rally – FIA T3 standings:
1. Austin Jones (USA)/Gustavo Gugelmin (BRA) Red Bull Off-Road Junior Can-Am Maverick X3 51hr 55min 53sec
2. Seth Quintero (USA)/Dennis Zenz (DEU) Red Bull Off-Road Junior Can-Am Maverick X3 52hr 47min 58sec
3. Guillaume de Mevius (BEL)/François Cazalet (FRA) GRallyteam OT3 53hr 31min 35sec
4. Cristina Gutièrrez (ESP)/Pablo Moreno Huete (ESP) Red Bull Can-Am Factory Maverick X3 54hr 52min 13sec
5. Francisco López (CHL)/Oriol Mena (ESP) Red Bull Can-Am Factory Maverick X3 54hr 55min 41sec
6. Saleh Al-Saif (SAU)/João Pedro Ré (PRT) Can-Am Maverick X3 56hr 10min 01sec
7. Ebenhaezer Basson (ZAF)/Bertus Leander Pienaar (ZAF) GRallyteam OT3 56hr 49min 59sec
8. Hans Weijs (NLD)/Rudolf Meijer (NLD) Arcane T3 58hr 08min 58sec
9. Santiago Navarro (ESP)/Adrien Metge (FRA) Can-Am Maverick X3 58hr 30min 40sec
10. Ignacio Casale (CHL)/Alvaro Leon (CHL) Yamaha YXZ 1000 R 58hr 49min 20sec
Rally leaders
Prologue Cristina Gutiérrez (Can-Am)
SS1-SS2 Francisco López (Can-Am)
SS3 Seth Quintero (Can-Am)
SS4 Mitch Guthrie (T3M MCE-5)
SS5-SS10 Guillaume de Mévius (OT3)
SS11-14 Austin Jones (Can-Am)
Stage winners
Prologue Cristina Gutiérrez (Can-Am)
SS1 Francisco López (Can-Am)
SS2 Mitch Guthrie (T3M MCE-5)
SS3 Austin Jones (Can-Am)
SS4 Mitch Guthrie (T3M MCE-5)
SS5 Seth Quintero (Can-Am)
SS6 Mitch Guthrie (T3M MCE-5)
SS7 Mitch Guthrie (T3M MCE-5)
SS8 João Ferriera (Yamaha)
SS9 David Zille (Can-Am)
SS10 Seth Quintero (Can-Am)
SS11 Ricardo Porém (Yamaha)
SS12 Mitch Guthrie (T3M MCE-5)
SS13 Mitch Guthrie (T3M MCE-5)
SS14 Cristina Gutiérrez (Can-Am)
45th Dakar Rally- FIA T4 standings:
1. Eryk Goczal (POL)/Oriol Mena (ESP) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo 53hr 10min 14sec
2. Rokas Baciuška (LTU)/Oriol Vidal (ESP) Red Bull Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo 53hr 26min 58sec
3. Marek Goczal (POL)/Maciej Marton (POL) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo 53hr 28min 29sec
4. Jeremias Ferioli (ARG)/Pedro Rinaldi (ARG) South Racing Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo 54hr 17min 14sec
5. Gerard Farrés (ESP)/Diego Ortego (ESP) South Racing Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo 54hr 59min 32sec
6. Bruno Conti de Oliveira (BRA)/Pedro Prata (PRT) South Racing Can-Am Maverick XRS 56hr 12min 35sec
7. Michal Goczal (POL)/Szymon Gospodarczyk (POL) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo 57hr 12min 53sec
8. Sebastien Guayasamin (ECU)/Ricard Torlaschi (ARG) South Racing Can-Am Maverick XRS 57hr 57min 48sec
9. Pau Navarro (ESP)/Michael Metge (FRA) Can-Am Maverick XRS Turbo 58hr 01min 14sec
10. Florent Vayssade (FRA)/Nicolas Rey (FRA) Polaris RZR Pro R 59hr 21min 58sec
Rally leaders
Prologue Rokas Baciuška (Can-Am)
SS1 Eryk Goczal (Can-Am)
SS2-SS3 Marek Goczal (Can-Am)
SS4-SS6 Rodrigo Luppi de Oliveira (Can-Am)
SS7-SS13 Rokas Baciuška (Can-Am)
SS14 Eryk Goczal (Can-Am)
Stage winners
Prologue Rokas Baciuška (Can-Am)
SS1 Eryk Goczal (Can-Am)
SS2 Marek Goczal (Can-Am)
SS3 Cristiano de Sousa Batista (Can-Am)
SS4 Eryk Goczal (Can-Am)
SS5 Rokas Baciuška (Can-Am)
SS6 Marek Goczal (Can-Am)
SS7 Rokas Baciuška (Can-Am)
SS8 Jeremias Ferioli (Can-Am)
SS9 Eryk Goczal (Can-Am)
SS10 Gerard Farrés (Can-Am)
SS11 Rokas Baciuška (Can-Am)
SS12 Michal Goczal (Can-Am)
SS13 Eryk Goczal (Can-Am)
SS14 Carlos Vento Sanchez (Can-Am)
Ends
For further information: contact Scott Abraham, South Racing, Email: Scott.Abraham@southracing.com, Tel: + 49 172 6662880.
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