Media Information
Dakar Rally 2018
09 January 2018
Dakar Rally 2018
–
Stage 3: Pisco – San Juan de Marcona
-
Stage 3, Ica Desert, proves to be another challenging day
for all Dakar competitors. -
Jakub ‘Kuba’ Przygonski
completes Stage 3 with 9th place result. - Garafulic back up to pace to complete today’s stage in 13th.
Munich. Day three of Dakar 2018 has once again provided drama
from yet another tough, difficult special stage. Stage 3 consisted
of 208 liaison kilometres, but it was the 296km route across the Ica
Desert that proved troublesome.
Jakub ‘Kuba’ Przygonski (POL) and Tom Colsoul (BEL) were the first of
the MINI crews to cross the Stage 3 finish line. Mindful of the
troublesome desert sand and dunes, plus Colsoul still recovering from
yesterday’s sickness, Przygonski and his co-driver pushed hard with
caution to secure a good 9th place result and are now
placed 11th overall.
Przygonski: “Today was quite tough, not so easy
navigation. Some places it was really hard to see the dunes because
the sun was right at the top of them and because it was uphill and
downhill it was not easy. We have to be really focussed because the
terrain changes from sand to stones. We had one puncture, which we
changed quite quickly.”
Boris Garafulic (CHI) and co-driver Filipe Palmeiro (POR) started
Stage 3 in a determined mood after yesterday’s incident packed Stage
2, which saw them return very late to the overnight bivouac and a
11-hour deficit to the race leader. However, today the MINI John
Cooper Works Rally crew completed Stage 3 in 13th and this
just goes to show how resilient cross-country rally crews really are.
Garafulic: “It was a good stage for us. We didn’t
have any problems even though it was very demanding with the sun on
our eyes.”
Completing Stage 2 in 16th place was the crew of Orlando
Terranova (ARG) and Bernardo Graue (Arg). Despite some issues with
navigation and tyre damage, another consistent placing has led to the
pair retain a top ten placing in the overall classification with
8th place.
Yazeed Al Rajhi (KSA) with co-driver Timo Gottschalk (DEU) were also
victims of an incident on the previous day’s Stage 2 and are
desperately trying to claw back some of the seven hours they picked up
while stranded in the dunes. Finishing 30th place in Stage
3 saw the pair pull back some positions to leave them 49th overall.
Al Rajhi: “It was a good day even though we started
in a late position, which meant it was very dusty so we took it easy.
Then we saw Mikko stuck in the dunes so we stayed to help him out and
then we finished together.”
Bad luck also called on the crew of Mikko Hirvonen (FIN) and Andreas
Schulz (DEU). Hirvonen had started to push hard and was on course for
another excellent top ten stage result. But midway through the special
stage Hirvonen hit deep sand and became stuck. The outcome of this was
completing the stage in 39th.
Hirvonen: “We slid sideways into a dune and got stuck
in the sand. We couldn’t move forwards, backwards or sideways and had
to spend time digging to get the spare wheels underneath the car. We
lost a lot of time. It’s a shame but that’s how it is.”
The Spanish duo of Joan ‘Nani’ Roma and co-pilot Alex Haro looked to
be certain of a top five finish in Stage 3. Unfortunately, with
approximately one kilometre left of the off-road special stage, Lady
Luck dealt the hard-charging crew a really bad hand and they rolled
their MINI John Cooper Works Rally. Even though the pair managed to
finish the special stage, before completing the liaison stage Roma was
taken to hospital for precautionary medical checks. The end result is
the crew cannot now continue Dakar 2018.
Stage 4 will see competitors complete the loop of San Juan de Marcona
– San Juan de Marcona. For more information about Dakar 2018, please
visit the host’s event home page here.
Dakar Rally 2018
: MINI results after Stage 3
Pos
Driver
Co-driver
#
MINI
Team
Time
8
Orlando
Terranova
(ARG)
Bernardo Graue
(Arg)
307
MINI John Cooper Works Rally
X-raid Team
007:10:17
+00:35:19
11
Jakub
Przygonski
(POL)
Tom Colsoul
(BEL)
312
MINI John Cooper Works Rally
Orlen Team
007:19:11
+00:44:13
20
Mikko
Hirvonen
(FIN)
Andreas Schulz
(DEU)
305
MINI John Cooper Works Buggy
X-raid Team
008:43:20
+02:08:22
49
Yazeed Al
Rajhi
(KSA)
Timo Gottschalk
(DEU)
314
MINI John Cooper Works Buggy
X-raid Team
015:04:08
+08:29:10
55
Boris
Garafulic
(CHI)
Filipe Palmeiro
(POR)
317
MINI John Cooper Works Rally
X-raid Team
018:41:55
+12:06:57