Dakar 2018: Difficult first week for Mini X-raid Team
· Przygonski still sixth overall
· Bivouac in Tupiza under water
· 9th stage cancelled
The rest day is over and the Dakar 2018 starts directly into the marathon stage. From La Paz the crews drove to Uyuni and had to manage the night without their teams. They waited in Tupiza and welcomed their pilots there today. Jakub “Kuba” Przygonski (POL) and Tom Colsoul (BEL) secured the fourth and seventh positions of the day, thus holding their sixth place in the overall ranking.
Their brand colleagues Boris Garafulic (CHI) and Filipe Palmeiro (POR) finished ninth and eleventh. Their problems at the beginning of the Dakar put them in 21st place overall.
The three crews Orlando Terranova/Bernardo “Ronnie” Graue (both ARG), Mikko Hirvonen (FIN)/Andreas Schulz (GER) and Yazeed Al-Rajhi (KSA)/Timo Gottschalk (GER) had to struggle with problems on their way to Uyuni. After a water passage a sensor was defective. Terranova and Hirvonen crossed the finish line after the seventh leg at positions 31 and 38. One day later Terranova finished sixth and Hirvonen finished 17th. Al-Rajhi abandoned the special stage and was taken out of the race by the stewards.
While the crews were fighting for positions, X-raid had to face other challenges. The bivouac in Tupiza was flooded by heavy rainfall. All service vehicles had to leave the yard or were no longer allowed to drive on it. The authorities then closed off the road next to the bivouac. There, the teams were lined up and built up their service park on the area.
Due to further rainfalls and thunderstorms, the ASO, the organizer of the Dakar, cancelled tomorrow’s ninth stage to Salta. The complete X-raid team is currently on its way to Salta.
Dakar 2018 Ergebnis SS8
1. S. Peterhansel (FRA) / J.-P. Cottret (FRA) Peugeot – 5h 15m 18s
2.C. Despres (FRA) / D. Castera (FRA) Peugeot – 5h 16m 07s
3. N. Al-Attiyah (QAT) / M. Baumel (FRA) Toyota – 5h 17m 30s
4.B. Ten Brinke (NDL) / M. Périn (FRA) Toyota – 5h 20m 18s
5.C. Sainz (ESP) / L. Cruz (ESP) Peugeot – 5h 22m 22s
6. O. Terranova (ARG) / R. Graue (ARG) MINI JCW Rally – 5h 25m 18s
7. J. Przygonski (POL) / T. Colsoul (BEL) MINI JCW Rally – 5h 31m 56s
…
11. B. Garafulic (CHI) / F. Palmeiro (POR) MINI JCW Rally – 5h 51m 47s
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17. M. Hirvonen (FIN) / A. Schulz (GER) MINI JCW Buggy – 6h 06m 38s
Dakar 2018 Gesamtwertung nach SS8
1. C. Sainz (ESP) / L. Cruz (ESP) Peugeot – 27h 04m 00s
2.N. Al-Attiyah (QAT) / M. Baumel (FRA) Toyota – 28h 10m 37s
3. S. Peterhansel (FRA) / J.-P. Cottret (FRA) Peugeot – 28h 17m 42s
4.B. Ten Brinke (NDL) / M. Périn (FRA) Toyota – 28h 27m 00s
5. G. de Villiers (RSA) / D. von Zitzewitz (GER) Toyota – 28h 41m 09s
6. J. Przygonski (POL) / T. Colsoul (BEL) MINI JCW Rally – 29h 32m 37s
…
19. M. Hirvonen (FIN) / A. Schulz (GER) MINI JCW Buggy – 36h 26m 52s
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21. B. Garafulic (CHI) / F. Palmeiro (POR) MINI JCW Rally – 38h 16m 33s
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28. O. Terranova (ARG) / R. Graue (ARG) MINI JCW Rally – 44h 54m 43s
