Dakar 2023 | How SA challengers rank with 3 stages remaining

The 2023 Dakar Rally is nearing its end as teams and crews are currently competing in Stage 12. The world's toughest race comes to a head on Sunday, 15 January, in the coastal city of Dammam.

Saudi Arabia and its extreme conditions have been putting both man and machine to the test, with many falling by the wayside while others have been managing to scrape through - just.

Here's how some of the South Africans competing in this year's race have fared.

Cars

The Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa team has been grabbing all the headlines. Giniel de Villiers and co-driver Dennis Murphy overcame early troubles in the race to now sit in fifth-place overall. After 11 stages, they are 2hr 14min 18sec off the leader's pace.

Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings are fourth overall, but within striking distance of third-place, provided lousy luck befalls the crews running ahead of him.

Leading the charge for the South African team is Qatari Nasser Al-Attiyah and his French teammate Mathieu Baumel. The duo leads the Dakar by 1hr 21min after Stage 11 and has opted to take it easy in the remaining stages. The crews of De Villiers and Lategan are playing support to the leaders, ready to jump in and fix should a problem arise.

Elsewhere, the Century Racing Factory team's Brian Baragwanath and co-driver Leonard Cremer are eighth overall, while Eben Basson and Leander Pienaar are 39th for the G Rally Team. Geoff Minnitt and Gerhard Snyman are 64th for the South African Racing Can-Am team.

Bikes

Michael Docherty is currently 18th overall - the highest-placed South African - riding for the HT Rally Raid Husqvarna Racing team. He is 3hr 09min behind the leader, while teammate Charan Moore, competing in the tough 'Original by Motul' class, is 34th overall.