Transiberian Rally. Day 4
NANI ROMA JUST MISSES THE VICTORY IN PORTUGAL
 After
leading the Transiberian Rally from stage one, Repsol driver
“Nani” Roma said farewell to his hopes of a victory
precisely when he was in total command of the test. Roma continued
to increase his margin over teammate Luc Alphand, immediate
contender and now leader of the general classification, in
a special disputed under heavy rain.
However, his alternator belt broke and Roma was forced to
withdraw halfway through the second special, in which would
have been the first victory for the new Mitsubishi Montero
Evolution MPR14 Diesel.
He was able to continue for a few kilometres, slowly and
without power-steering, until his battery was completely discharged.
After waiting for assistance, he made it to the closed park,
and will start off tomorrow in order to complete the Rally
with his two teammates in the Team Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart,
though with a heavy penalty.
Today's stage consisted of two timed specials of 165 kilometres
each, which were claimed by Qatari driver Nasser Al-Attiyah
-penalised with 40 minutes the first day and therefore ready
to risk it all in order to take partial victories-, and Luc
Alphand, who in his attempt at reducing the difference with
Roma in the general classification, attacked right from the
start. The Team Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart driver dropped
his pace once he knew of Roma's withdrawal, but was still
able to run the fastest time.
Stéphane Peterhansel continued to pay for testerday's
mistake, as the start from so far back meant having to overtake
a number of rivals, on a day when the conditions did not allow
for too many risks. The heavy rain notably reduced visibility,
making the tracks even more slippery and adding the difficulty
of mud. As a result, he finished seventh in the first special
and third in the second, climbing six positions in the general
classification.
Tomorrow the last stage will be held, with two runs on a
165 km timed special, and will take the caravan to the town
of Estoril, final destination of the Transiberian Rally.
Quotes
"Nani" Roma >> withdrawn
“It's a shame, because right from the first day I've
been leading the race. It was very a positive experience,
though we had a few small novice problems.
It's important having been so close to winning the first race
with a diesel car, and we've shown some great performance.
We're very happy, because it's only the first diesel version,
not definitive yet, with the chassis from the petrol model.
Overall it has gone well and I'm just thinking about racing
with this car again. We have to be optimistic, because in
the future this will be the perfect car to fight for the Dakar.”
Luc Alphand >> 12h37min.58secs,
“Today I tried to keep up my regularity. It was a very
complicated special, very slippery again and very muddy, as
the rain today made it a very dangerous special.
I attacked during both specials, but as soon as I heard Nani
was out of the race my aim was to maintain the result and
try to finish without any problems. I was taking quite a lot
of risks, but now I have a big advantage over the second driver
and being ahead with a Mitsubishi is very important.”
Stéphane Peterhansel >> at 1h15mins
55secs,
“As I started out at the back due to yesterday's mistake,
I met slower drivers. What's more, the tracks were very winding,
narrow and technical, and along with the rain, which greatly
reduced visibility, overtaking was very difficult and dangerous.
I hope I can finish tomorrow's rally well, but in these competitions
small mistakes are paid for dearly, because everythng is very
tight. I would have liked to climb a few places, but it's
a very short rally, and there aren't many kilometres left,
which made it dangerous to take any risks in such tough conditions,
overtaking cars on such slippery tracks. Any small skid could
mean running off the track, turning over or a crash against
a tree, and that's a risk we didn't want to take bearing in
mind our few chances of taking the victory and that the Team
Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart has the race under control.”
Results
>> DAY 4
Special 1
1. AL ATTIYAH - THÖRNER (BMW) 2:22:39
2. ROMA - CRUZ SENRA (REPSOL MITSUBISHI) at 03:18
3. ALPHAND - PICARD (REPSOL MITSUBISHI) at 06:45
4. TERRANOVA - PALMER (BMW) at 08:13
5. CAMPOS - BAPTISTA (BMW) at 08:25
10. PETERHANSEL - COTTRET (REPSOL MITSUBISHI) at 10:06
Special 2
1. ALPHAND - PICARD (REPSOL MITSUBISHI) 2:32:39
2. AL ATTIYAH - THÖRNER (BMW) at 00:10
3. PETERHANSEL - COTTRET (REPSOL MITSUBISHI) at 08:38
4. CAMPOS - BAPTISTA (BMW) at 11:06
5. OLIVEIRA - MARQUES (NISSAN) at 11:47
NC. ROMA - CRUZ SENRA (REPSOL MITSUBISHI)
>> RALLY
1. ALPHAND - PICARD (REPSOL MITSUBISHI) 12:37:58
2. AL ATTIYAH - THÖRNER (BMW) at 35:12
3. CAMPOS - BAPTISTA (BMW) at 37:31
4. OLIVEIRA - MARQUES (NISSAN) at 59:45
5. PETERHANSEL - COTTRET (REPSOL MITSUBISHI) at 01:15:55
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