X-raid’s Sails Capital Racing Team lead after day five
Press release Team x-raid news
SAN RAFAËL(Argentina): Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah and Tina Thörner, representing X-raid’s Sails Capital Racing Team, set the fourth fastest time on the most difficult special stage of the 2009 Dakar Rally so far and regained the overall lead on Wednesday. The punishing fifth 506km timed section linked the overnight halts of Neuquén and San Rafaël in Argentina and Al-Attiyah overcame the handicap of starting the stage in second position to further establish his credentials as a serious challenger for the overall victory in his BMW X3 CC. Qatari Al-Attiyah and Swedish co-driver Thörner started the stage behind Spaniard Carlos Sainz and were running third in the stage at the opening passage control at 230km. They maintained a similar position through PC2 and survived the first major dune crossings of the event to record the fourth quickest time, although they suffered minor overheating problems in the tricky dunes. Giniel de Villiers claimed the fastest time of the day, but an accident for Sainz ensured that the X-raid driver regained the overall lead by a margin of 2m 24s from De Villiers. “It’s great to be leading again, but it could have been so much better today,” said Al-Attiyah. “I had to stop in the dunes for about 15 minutes because the engine was overheating and the temperature would not go down. I tried to unclog the radiator, but it was full of these flowers, not camel grass, just a special type of flower that was stopping the air flow.” Dutchman Peter van Merksteijn and Belgian co-driver Eddy Chevallier held a virtual 16th position through the 230km point, but their car caught fire after the second passage control and the Dutch crew were evacuated to the bivouac with no chance of continuing in the race. “We stopped to change tyres and then we noticed a smell about 30km further on,” admitted Van Merksteijn. “My co-driver looked out of the car and he saw flames from the back end. I activated the fire extinguisher system, but the fire had taken hold and there was nothing we could do.”
Overall positions on leg 5 (unofficial @ 16.15hrs): 1. Giniel de Villiers (ZA)/Dirk von Zitzevitz (D) Volkswagen Race Touareg(T1.2 ) 5h 47m 43s 2. Dieter Depping (D)/Timo Gottschalk (D) Volkswagen Race Touareg (T1.2) 5h 50m 01s 3. Robbie Gordon (USA)/Andy grider (USA) Hummer (Open 1) 5h 51m 55s 4. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QA)/Tina Thörner (S) BMW X3 CC (T1.2) 5h 53m 06s 5. Stéphane Peterhansel (F)/Jean-Paul Cottret Mitsubishi Racing Lancer(T1.2) 5h 54m 55s 6. Mark Miller (USA)/Ralph Pitchford (ZA) Volkswagen Race Touareg (T1.2) 5h 56m 42s 7. Luc Alphand (F)/Gilles Picard (F) Mitsubishi Racing Lancer (T1.2) 5h 57m 45s 8. Joan ‘Nani’ Roma (E)/Lucas Cruz Senra (E) Mitsubishi Racing Lancer(T1.2 ) 6h 01m 21s 9. Carlos Sainz (E)/Michel Périn (F) Volkswagen Race Touareg (T1.2) 6h 03m 25s
Other X-raid crews
11. Guerlain Chicherit (F)/Matthieu Baumel (F) BMW X3 CC (T1.2) 6h 26m 10s 13. René Kuipers (NL)/Filipe Palmeiro (P) BMW X3 CC (T1.2) 7h 18m 51s 14. Orlando Terranova (RA)/Alain Guehennec (F) BMW X3 CC (T1.2) 7h 19m 39s TBA. Leonid Novitskiy (RUS)/Oleg Tyupenkin (RUS) BMW X3 CC (T1.2) TBA Overall positions after leg 5: 1. Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (QA)/Tina Thörner (S) BMW X3 CC (T1.2) 18h 44m 37s 2. Giniel de Villiers (ZA)/Dirk von Zitzevitz (D) Volkswagen Race Touareg(T1.2) 18h 47m 01s 3. Carlos Sainz (E)/Michel Périn (F) Volkswagen Race Touareg (T1.2) 18h 51m 10s 4. Stéphane Peterhansel (F)/Jean-Paul Cottret Mitsubishi Racing Lancer(T1.2) 18h 58m 21s 5. Mark Miller (USA)/Ralph Pitchford (ZA) Volkswagen Race Touareg (T1.2) 19h 04m 32s 6. Joan ‘Nani’ Roma (E)/Lucas Cruz Senra (E) Mitsubishi Racing Lancer (T1.2) 19h 09m 06s 7. Robbie Gordon (USA)/Andy grider (USA) Hummer (Open 1) 19h 26m 25s 8. Luc Alphand (F)/Gilles Picard (F) Mitsubishi Racing Lancer (T1.2) 19h 26m 41s
Other X-raid crews
11. Orlando Terranova (RA)/Alain Guehennec (F) BMW X3 CC (T1.2) 20h 31m 54s 14. René Kuipers (NL)/Filipe Palmeiro (P) BMW X3 CC (T1.2) 22h 00m 19s TBA. Guerlain Chicherit (F)/Matthieu Baumel (F) BMW X3 CC (T1.2) 27h 10m 32s TBA. Leonid Novitskiy (RUS)/Oleg Tyupenkin (RUS) BMW X3 CC (T1.2)
Related posts:
- Team x-raid new dimensions NEWS
- Exciting and enjoyable Dakar for Team X-Raid
- Peterhansel gives X-raid outright Dakar lead
- Team X-raid another sensational performance
- 4th. day 2009 Dakar results and overall standings.
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This post was compiled by Memin Pinguin
