Dakar / SS4: 3 AXION MINI ALL4 Racing vehicles in top-10
– Nasser Al-Attiyah once again the fastest MINI ALL4 Racing driver
– Roma and Terranova secure top-10 result
Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT) and Mathieu Baumel (FRA) once again were the fastest MINI ALL4 Racing pairing, today. At the beginning of the special stage they succeeded in securing a position between the Peugeots but in the end, they had to settle for finishing fourth. In the overall standings, Al-Attiyah worked his way up to third place, behind Sebastien Loeb and Stéphane Peterhansel.
Meanwhile, the pairings Nani Roma / Alex Haro (both ESP) and Orlando Terranova / Ronnie Graue (both ARG) also kept on working their way up. By finishing eighth and ninth respectively, they made their top-10 comeback. Terranova also closed in on the top-10 positions in the overall standings. He currently holds 13th position, Roma is in 22nd.
Finland’s Mikko Hirvonen and his French navigator Michel Périn, however, failed to make it to the top 10 – for the first time in this year’s edition of the legendary event. They lost a lot of time in the opening stages of today’s special stage and weren’t able to make up for the lost ground later. In the end they finished 12th and consequently dropped back to seventh in the overall standings.
Tomorrow the field will contest the second half of the marathon stage. Following a night without service, the drivers have to safely take their MINI ALL4 Racing racers to Uyuni, Bolivia. Right after having crossed the border, the competitors will start into a 327-kilometre special stage. But the drivers will have to not only go easy on their cars but also have to watch out for themselves and their co-drivers. The route takes the field to an altitude of 4,600 metres about sea level (the highest special-stage spot in the history of the Dakar) what can result in mountain-sickness symptoms such as headache.
Result stage 4 (for latests version click here)
1st S. Peterhansel (FRA)/J.-P. Cottret (FRA) 3h 42min 42sec
2nd C. Sainz (ESP)/L. Cruz (ESP) +11s
3rd S. Loeb (FRA)/ D. Elena (MCO) +27s
4th N. Al-Attiayah (QAT)/M. Baumel (FRA) +4min 57s
5th C. Despres (FRA)/D. Castera (FRA) +5min 44s
…
8th N. Roma (ESP)/A. Haro (ESP) +7min 10s
9th O. Terranova (ARG)/B. Graue (ARG) +7min 43s
12th M. Hirvonen (FIN)/M. Périn (FRA) +10min 17s
Overall standings after stage 4 (for latest version click here)
1st S. Loeb (FRA)/ D. Elena (MCO) 9h 44min 51s
2nd S. Peterhansel (FRA)/J.-P. Cottret (FRA) +4min 48s
3rd N. Al-Attiayah (QAT)/M. Baumel (FRA) +11min 09s
…
7th M. Hirvonen (FIN)/M. Périn (FRA) +15min 42s
…
13th O. Terranova (ARG)/B. Graue (ARG) +43min 16s
…
22nd Roma (ESP)/A. Haro (ESP) +1h 01min 06s
