Media Information
Dakar Rally 2018
12 January 2018
Dakar Rally 2018
–
Stage 6: Arequipa – La Paz
- Hirvonen and Przygonski complete Stage 6 with top ten positions.
- Hirvonen pushes hard to place sixth at stage end.
-
Przygonski takes 10th position in stage and
climbs to sixth in the overall standings.
Munich. Stage 6 of the Dakar was the first stage to take place
inside Bolivia after leaving the deserts of Chile. The stage
distance of 760 kilometres took in mountainous terrain of up to 4600
metres altitude and a complete contrast in racing conditions. Where
the previous five stages consisted of sand, dunes and 40° C
temperatures, today’s racing took in rain, mud and even ice at the
highest points.
Mikko Hirvonen (FIN) and Andreas Schulz (DEU) did not waste time in
getting to grips with the mountain tracks with top five positions
throughout the first series of checkpoints. At the end of the stage,
Hirvonen’s MINI John Cooper Works Buggy was officially placed as
completing in 6th place and are now 13th overall.
Hirvonen: “It was a quite a contrast to what we saw
yesterday. In the start of the race it was really muddy in places and
wet on normal roads. It was quite nice to see how good the MINI John
Cooper Works Buggy works in these areas; I was really happy with it.
On the first part we were running really well, second, third and
fourth. The second part was just straights, one corner, one jump and
the car is handling really well.”
The second crew of the MINI Family to finish Stage 6 was that of
Jakub ‘Kuba’ Przygonski (POL) and Tom Colsoul (BEL) in their MINI John
Cooper Works Rally. The pair also enjoyed the mountain tracks and
completed in 10th position. This result sees the pair now
placed just outside of the top five in the ‘Auto’ category with sixth
place overall.
Przygonski: “We are happy.Today was a really nice stage. We enjoyed
it. It was a good road book and so we were pushing hard. But it was
not so easy because it was raining and slippery. Then we went to the
high altitudes – the highest point I think was 4700 metres and there
was snow at the sides of the road. It was strange to be in 40-degrees
yesterday and today zero degrees.”
Boris Garafulic (CHI) and co-driver Filipe Palmeiro (POR) also made
the most of the faster mountain roads and tracks in their MINI John
Cooper Works Rally to put in yet another consistent race pace. Their
12th place finish at stage end puts them at 26th
in the overall race classification.
The second MINI John Cooper Works Buggy crew of Yazeed Al Rajhi (KSA)
/ Timo Gottschalk (DEU) had the misfortune to start Stage 6 from the
back of the pack but quickly made their presence felt. Even though
overtaking room was limited on the mountain tracks, the pairing
finished in 38th place.
Orlando Terranova (ARG) and co-driver Bernardo Graue (ARG) easily
matched the pace of the other competitors in the early morning
low-level sections of Stage 6. Unfortunately, when the crew reached
the highest points in altitude, Terranova became unwell, possibly from
altitude sickness. With safety in mind, the pairing made a decision to
leave Stage 6 and drive directly to the bivouac at the next stop in La Paz.
Friday 12th January is an official Dakar rest day. Dakar
2018 resumes with Stage 7, La Paz – Uyuni, on Saturday 13th
January. For more information about Dakar 2018, please visit the
host’s event home page here.
Dakar Rally 2018
: MINI standings after Stage 6
Pos
Driver
Co-driver
#
MINI
Team
Time
6
Jakub Przygonski
(POL)
Tom Colsoul
(BEL)
312
MINI John Cooper Works
Rally
Orlen
Team
018:50:18
+02:25:16
15
Mikko Hirvonen
(FIN)
Andreas Schulz
(DEU)
305
MINI John Cooper Works
Buggy
X-raid
Team
021:18:48
+04:53:46
26
Boris
Garafulic
(CHI)
Filipe Palmeiro
(POR)
317
MINI John Cooper Works Rally
X-raid Team
026:40:38
+10:15:36
28
Yazeed Al
Rajhi
(KSA)
Timo Gottschalk
(DEU)
314
MINI John Cooper Works Buggy
X-raid Team
027:33:07
+11:08:05
TBC
Orlando
Terranova
(ARG)
Bernardo Graue
(Arg)
307
MINI John Cooper Works Rally
X-raid Team
TBC