2017 Dakar Rally

Media Information

2017 Dakar Rally

14 January 2017

 

2017 Dakar Rally – Stage 11: San Juan – Rio Cuarto, 759 km

 

  • 3rd place stage finish for Terranova
  • Al Rajhi completes Stage 11 in 5th
  • Top five in reach for Terranova as 2017 Dakar enters the final stage

 

Munich. The penultimate stage of the 2017 Dakar took the
competitors to the sand dunes of San Juan to do battle on a WRC-type
track in the Cordoba region. It was a terrain that seemed to suit
the style of driver Orlando Terranova (ARG) as he continued to
quietly progress through the ranks of the overall standings with
another impressive stage performance. The Argentinian driver  and
co-driver Andreas Schulz (GER) crossed the finish line in
3rd in the #308 MINI John Cooper Works Rally car to
maintain 6th overall, within reach of a top five finish
ahead of the final stage of this year’s event.

 

Terranova: “The beginning of the stage was very hard – it was bumpy
and sandy – we tried to push but it was difficult. We tried in the
second half to push more but there was too much dust from the quads
and bikes. Tomorrow we keep trying.”

 

Just two places behind them reaching Rio Cuarto was Yazeed Al Rajhi
(KSA) and co-driver Timo Gottschalk (DEU) in the #306 MINI John Cooper
Works Rally car. The pairing finished the stage in 5th to
move up to 26th in the general standings.*

Al Rajhi: “The first part of the stage everything was ok. On the
second part we tried to push hard, we did it well and made no mistakes.”

 

Mikko Hirvonen (FIN) and Michel Perin (FRA) fared better in the #303
MINI John Cooper Works Rally car for Stage 11. The pairing completed
the 759km just outside the top ten, in 11th, as the first
car in a cavalcade of three MINIs. They now sit in 13th overall.

 

Hirvonen: “Today was okay, it was better than yesterday! The first
part of the stage was really horrible in a way, really bumpy and up
and down, but the second part was nice, really twisty and narrow. In
the last 100 km though we were always in somebody’s dust so we just
cruised to the finish.”

 

Just one place behind in 12th was the #322 MINI ALL4
RACING of Mohamed Abu Issa (QAT) and co-driver Xavier Panseri (FRA).
The pair’s solid performance saw them move into the top ten overall
with just one round remaining – remarkable when you consider that this
is Abu Issa’s first Dakar in a car and the first time the driver and
co-driver have competed together.

 

Abu Issa: “It was a good day. The first section was 120km of sand,
which I like and we were only a few seconds away from 8th
and 9th; for me it was really good to come that close in a
stage. The second part was WRC-style, so I was a little bit scared to
be honest but it was satisfying to see that I could still keep my pace
in the territory that I’m not familiar with. I learnt a lot and this
is the stage that made my rally.”

 

The third consecutive MINI to cross the line in 13th was
the #316 MINI ALL4 Racing of Jakub Przygonski (POL) and Tom Colsoul
(BEL). They maintained 7th in the general standings.

 

Przygonski: “The second part of today was WRC-style and we were able
to push and see that we had the speed. We enjoyed this stage, it was a
really nice stage to drive, quite technical and a lot of corners but
it was good. We have only one more day so we have to keep focused now.”

 

Sylvio de Barros (BR) and Rafael Capoani (BR) also completed the
stage in 16th to move to 18th overall. Stephan
Schott (GER) and Paulo Fiuza (POR) will also start the final part of
the Dakar after conquering Stage 11 in 21st to move to
15th in the standings.

 

Unfortunately, Boris Garafulic (CHL) and Filipe Palmeiro (POR) decide
to retire from the race on the penultimate stage.

 

2017 Dakar Rally: MINI Family standings overall after Stage 11.

 

Position

Driver

Co-driver

#

Team

Time

6

Orlando Terranova
(ARG)

Andreas Schulz
(GER)

308

X-raid Team

30:11:56

+01:51:40

7

Jakub Przygonski
(POL)

Tom Colsoul (BEL)

316

ORLEN
Team

32:33:14

+04:12:58

10

Mohamed Abu Issa
(QAT)

Xavier Panseri
(FRA)

322

X-raid Team

33:11:06

+04:50:50

13

Mikko Hirvonen
(FIN)

Michel Périn (FRA)

303

X-raid
Team

34:15:02

+05:54:46

15

Stephan Schott
(GER)

Paulo Fiuza (POR)

325

X-raid
Team

31:26:06

+06:27:23

18

Sylvio de Barros
(BR)

Rafael Capoani (BR)

339

X-raid
Team

36:29:23

+08:09:07

26*

Yazeed Al Rajhi
(KSA)

Timo Gottschalk
(DEU)

306

X-raid Team

43:20:32

+15:00:16

*subject to appeal