Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team driver Austin Jones wins T3 Category at Dakar Rally 15.01.2023: 45th Dakar Rally – December 31st, 2022-January 15th, 2023 2023 FIA World Rally-Raid Championship, round 1 Sunday, January 15th, 2023 • Red Bull Can-Ams fill four of top five places in competitive T3 class

45th Dakar Rally  – December 31st, 2022-January 15th, 2023    
2023 FIA World Rally-Raid Championship, round 1  
Sunday, January 15th, 2023
 

 


•       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
 



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. Jones and Gugelmin now have a six-point advantage over their closest rivals in the championship standings.
 


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)




Neil Perkins, photos Red Bull