Al-Attiyah extended his overall lead to 22min 19sec with a third successive stage win. “We did a good job today. I am quite happy. We had to open the road and keep a good speed. We were a little cautious in places just to find the right way.  We pushed a little in the dunes to make a gap and then it was a case of not getting a puncture.”

 Saudi Arabia’s Yazeed Al-Rajhi blotted his copybook early in the stage and lost over five minutes, but still reached the finish in third place and maintained second overall.

“After about 14km we stop in some easy place, stuck, and we were passed by (Reinaldo) Varela and (Vladimir) Vasilyev,” admitted Al-Rajhi. “Then we pass them again and I was scared then not to make a mistake or get a puncture. But I am quite happy with this position. The points are the important thing for second place.”

Dutchman Erik van Loon and Briton Harry Hunt lost their fourth and ninth places in the overall standings after crashing 153.27km into the day’s stage on Qatar’s western shoreline.

SS3 – As it happened

Twenty-seven cars were given start times for the third 392.52km selective section. There was no wind but temperatures were forecast to climb into the high thirties and it was 25°C when the first of the bikes left the bivouac for the short 3.58km road section to the start.

Around 30km of sand dunes featured from the start on this occasion, before the stage crossed Qatar from east to west along the northern extremities of the Inland Sea, before heading to the west of Qatar and then moving up the west coast. The stage then wound its way through the heart of the south of the country to a finish near Sealine.

Al-Attiyah remained in a class of his own in the car category and was 5min 59sec faster than Al-Rajhi through PC1. Roma was the Qatari’s closest rival after Vasilyev lost a little time in the sand dunes.

Erik van Loon and Harry Hunt both crashed heavily after 153.27km. The two Minis were damaged, none of the four team members were injured, but the Dutchman and the Briton lost fourth and ninth overall as a result.

Al-Attiyah cruised to the stage finish to secure a third successive special win and duly extended his lead in the car category to 22min 19sec over Al-Rajhi. Vasilyev set the second fastest time in his Mini after Brazil’s Reinaldo Varela sustained three flat tyres and lost his chance of finishing the stage as runner-up.

“The stage was very tough, with a lot of stones and rocks after the dunes,” said Varela’s co-driver Gustavo Gugelmin. “All day we had flat tyres. Three punctures altogether and one just five kilometres from the end of the stage.”

This year’s Sealine Cross-Country Rally is being organised by the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) with support from GAC and the Salam International Group.

Tomorrow (Thursday), the penultimate 406.78km stage of the Sealine event is the longest of the entire rally. It starts 940 metres from the bivouac and finishes 4.32km away and uses sections of other stages and different combinations of tracks, sand flats and dunes.

2015 Sealine Cross-Country Rally – positions after SS3 (unofficial @ 13.50hrs):

Cars

Bikes

Quads

2. SS4 – 255.15 km (1^st bike 09.20hrs/1^st car 10.35hrs) approx.

Continue on the same road for 10km.

After a passage control, the rally cars and bikes cross the asphalt road and pass a bridge and 200 metres further they leave the main track on an interesting crest.