Vladimir Vasilyev e il suo co-pilota Konstantin Zhiltsov nella MINI ALL4 Racing hanno vinto cinque tappe al Dakar Rally 2015. I due russi, che hanno vinto la Coppa del Mondo FIA Cross Country Rallies nella MINI ALL4 Racing nel 2014, si sono rivelati essere i migliori navigatori durante la tappa di formazione speciale molto impegnativo e lungo 458 km, salendo di quattro posizioni in classifica. Ora sono in una forte settima posizione…
Fifth stage win for MINI at the 2015 Dakar Rally // Vasilyev
claims victory at stage five // Six MINI ALL4 Racing finish within
the top ten.
Munich (DE). Vladimir Vasilyev and his co-driver Konstantin Zhiltsov
in the MINI ALL4 Racing have won stage five at the 2015 Dakar Rally.
The two Russians, who won the FIA World Cup for Cross Country
Rallies in the MINI ALL4 Racing in 2014, turned out to be the best
navigators on the challenging 458 kilometre long special stage,
moving up four places in the overall classification. They are now in a
strong seventh position.
Nasser Al-Attiyah/Mathieu Baumel (QT/FR) were fourth quickest
today and extended their lead in the overall classification. The
experienced offroad duo, which finished 3rd overall last year, is now
10:35 minutes ahead of their closest rivals De Villiers/Von Zitzewitz.
On leg five the Dakar had to master the unforgivable Atacama
Desert in Chile. The 697 kilometre-long route lead from Copiapo to
Antofagasta. The special stage was held on loose gravel as well as
huge dunes with extremely fine “fesh fesh” sand at an altitude of up
to 3,000 metres above sea level. The constantly changing soil was
extremely demanding for the tires, thus a lot of drivers suffered tire
failures.
MINI made the best out of the tough conditions and finished the day
on a high note: Six MINI ALL4 Racing cars were within the top ten,
including Krzysztof Holowczyc/Xavier Panseri (PL/FR) who were
seventh quickest and moved up to fourth place overall. Joan ”Nani”
Roma (ES) and his co-driver Michel Périn (FR) finished in 8th position.
Erik van Loon/Wouter Rosegaar (NL/NL) were in ninth moving up
another place in the overall classification. They are now in an
excellent fifth position. Orlando Terranova/Bernardo Graue (AR/AR)
in the MINI ALL4 Racing completed the top ten today.
Leg six on Friday will lead from Antofagasta further north to Iquique.
The 277 kilometre long stage six will be comparatively short but very
intense. The drivers have to master large dunes with fine sand again.
Navigation will be the key factor to success as many of the dunes will
look the same.
Overall classification after leg 5 (Top 5).
01 Al-Attiyah/Baumel – MINI ALL4 Racing – 16:53:26h
02 De Villiers/Von Zitzewitz – 17:04:01h
03 Al Rajhi/Gottschalk – 17:13:55h
04 Holowczyc/Panseri – MINI ALL4 Racing – 17:42:21h
05 Van Loon/Rosegaar – MINI ALL4 Racing – 17:46:51h
Coming up. Day 6 (09 January 2015).
Start/finish: Antofagasta/Iquique (Leg 6)
Total distance: 649 km, Special stage: 255 km, Liaison: 392 km
