Winning stage in Antofagasta! Ales is (now) reinforces the overall second instead of
The eighth stage of Dakar Rally brought Alex’s first stage victory. The advantage of Gerard de Rooy became less but with only 1:31 minutes. Gerard de Rooij still leads overall, bur the orher trucks dropped back.
The longest special stage sof ar was 477 km, confirming the growing trend of special tests .
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Also this stage in brought three leaders. The initial part was dominated by Gerard de Rooy and after 60 kilometers he led Ales by 2 minutes and others even more. Leter de Rooij lost a bit and Arthur Ardavičus ( Kamaz Astana) led. He lasted quite long, but then he lost ten minutes, probably due to defect. Ardavičus managed to maintain technical leadership and the passage between the second and third controlpoint, when the crewwas busy mastering sand mountains over 3000 meters above sea level. Ales took after victory in the end, with de Rooij almost within sight. He finished second in the stage and virtually controlled the overall standings, in the end even the loss of a few tens of seconds. On his website the Rooij said he did not go flat but used his brains. Stacey, who was and still is Alex’s closest pursuer, became 3rd overall in the general standings but lost a lot of time due to a puncture. He was very unsatisfied.
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“The stage was really hard, heavy and extreme nervous, we are still moved in the range of minimum distances to be de Rooy, which we managed to reach the stage, but to release him ways was reluctant. The stage was a huge amount of dust in it suffered not only filters, but we in the cabin. In addition, navigator Michael Ernst had to swallow problems with knee, luckily for us our old physical therapist, who becomes a necessity. The stage was literally terrible but the tires, any defect plays a large role in the overall standings. The towers only two spare wheels and finish we’ve seen all the tires completely killed off, slowly separating strip. If the stage was longer, the tires because we did not get to your destination. Overall, for us in results did not change, our main goal is Lima, “summed up phase Ales for Czech Television.
Winning is nice, but in the overall ranking does not change anything. Gerard de Rooy leads to a slight lead, and Alex wants to stay in touch, and at a new stage everything begins again at zero. Stacey at the 3rd site has lost over 48 minutes and is now 33 minutes behind Ales. Ardavičuse, is doing great but his vehicle, a non-works Kamaz, is like an unwanted child. He has to know his role and probably has to finish behind the Young Kamaz Works drivers.
What can we expect next? The ninth stage from Antofagasta to Iquique, dunes will come up eventually, led to the last, over 1000 meters high, falling from the mountain dune slope over 32 percent to the sea.
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/09012012/58/dakar-trucks-loprais-finally-wins.html
OVERALL:
1- Gerard De Rooy (NLD), Rodewald (NLD), Colsoul (BEL), Iveco Strator-Torpedo, 23h14m03
2- Aleš Loprais (CZE), Almáši (CZE), Ernst (CZE), Tatra 815-2 a 15m39
3- Hans Stacey (NLD), Van Goor (NLD), Der Kinderen (NLD), Iveco Trakker Evo II a 48m06
4- Artur Ardavichius (KAZ), Kuzmich (RUS), Turlubaev (KAZ), Kamaz 4623 a 58m40
5- Atrat Mardeev (RUS), Shibalov (RUS), Belyaev (RUS), Kamaz 4326KV a 1h34m53
6- Pep Vila (ESP), Torrallardona (ESP), Van Eerd (NLD), Iveco Trakker Evo II a 2h06m05
7- Andrey Karginov (RUS), Devyatkin (RUS), Mokeev (RUS), Kamaz 4623 a 2h11m00
8- Ilgizar Mardeev (RUS), Mizyukaev (RUS), Sotnikov (RUS), Kamaz 4623 a 2h29m09
9- Franz Echter (DEU), Ruf (DEU), Klein (DEU), MAN TGS a 3h11m37
10- Martin Kolomy (CZE), Klian (CZE), Klian (CZE), Tatra 815-2 a 3h12m12