The fastest special stage of the rally, at least for its first part, will also be the one where drivers will have to face the first dunes. And it won’t just be a brief encounter with sand: in the last 100 kilometres, the exploration of the grey dunes of Nihuil will be even more intensive than during previous visits. The sand is more firm there, but the experience will provide a great deal of insight about each of the competitors’ technical skills. In short it will be a veritable test.
STAGE 2: GREY SAND DUNES
The fastest special stage of the rally, at least for its first part, will also be the one where drivers will have to face the first dunes. And it won’t just be a brief encounter with sand: in the last 100 kilometres, the exploration of the grey dunes of Nihuil will be even more intensive than during previous visits. The sand is more firm there, but the experience will provide a great deal of insight about each of the competitors’ technical skills. In short it will be a veritable test.
At CP1, Ales Loprais recorded the best provisional time at the CP after 259 km of the day’s special truck stage. With a total time of 2:05′35″ he only boasts a lead of five seconds over second place, Russian Kamaz driver Ayrat MArdeev.
Not long later it was reported that Russian Anton Shibalov (Kamaz), seventh in the general standings yesterday, just recorded the best provisional time at the CP. He leads the former stage leader Ales Loprais by 1′50″.
Another seven minutes later the Maz driven by Siarhei Viazovich was in the lead at the CP, with a time of 2:00′21″. The Bulgarian crew have made an improvement of 3′24″ on the previous best time set by Anton Shibalov.
Soon later, Gerard De Rooy was pursued Ayrat Mardeev, only to discover the Russian’s Kamaz in trouble after 313 km, possible on its side. De Rooy stopped to help set his rival back upright, before resuming the special a short while ago. Of course, these are only observations made from satellite positioning thanks to the famous Iritrack system. Mardeev indeed crashed with the crew luckily unhurt. They are unlikely to be able to resume the special.
In the end, several crew seemed within a chance for victory: Van Vliet, Shibalov. but in the end it was Karginov (Kamaz) who set the fastest time. A long wait was required to discover the results of the truck special stage, but here it finally is: Andrey Karginov has won with a time of 3:01′50″, ahead of his Kamaz team-mate Dimitri Sotnikov, 1′06″ behind. In third place came the Iveco of Frenchman Jo Adua (+8′34″ behind) to lighten the mood in Team De Rooy. Pep Vila is fourth in front of Siarhei Viazovich.
Helping a competitor in difficulty is one of the fundamentals of the rally-raid discipline. and Gerard de Rooy did not hesitate in helping his rival Ayrat Mardeev. The quarter of an hour spent in helping the crew to get free from the cab and setting the Kamaz upright probably cost him victory today, but such a sporting and kind gesture is worth any number of victories.
The results table, however, says that Shibalov has won. Anyway, Loprais finished half an hour after the winner after loosing his front screen.
| Pos. | N° | Nom | Heures | Temps | écart |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 545 |
|
18:41:37 | 04:11:37 | - | |
| 508 |
|
18:35:26 | 04:13:26 | 00:01:49 | |
| 501 |
|
18:44:49 | 04:20:49 | 00:09:12 | |
| 507 |
|
18:53:00 | 04:21:00 | 00:09:23 | |
| 502 |
|
18:58:31 | 04:21:31 | 00:09:54 | |
| 500 |
|
18:48:17 | 04:22:17 | 00:10:40 | |
| 506 |
|
19:09:26 | 04:24:26 | 00:12:49 | |
| 549 |
|
19:11:07 | 04:25:07 | 00:13:30 | |
| 529 |
|
19:08:59 | 04:29:59 | 00:18:22 | |
| 520 |
|
19:13:42 | 04:33:42 | 00:22:05 | |
| 510 |
|
19:19:04 | 04:36:04 | 00:24:27 | |
| 530 |
|
19:44:58 | 04:37:58 | 00:26:21 | |
| 518 |
|
19:30:02 | 04:41:32 | 00:29:55 | |
| 504 |
|
19:03:26 | 04:43:26 | 00:31:49 | |
| 509 |
|
19:25:40 | 04:44:40 | 00:33:03 | |
| 516 |
|
19:12:52 | 04:44:52 | 00:33:15 | |
| 512 |
|
19:42:39 | 04:52:09 | 00:40:32 | |
| 511 |
|
19:32:51 | 04:56:51 | 00:45:14 |
Stay tuned……
Categories: Racing & Rallying
January 6th, 2014