With 407 km, today’s longest special stage of the Transsyberia Rally 2008 powered by Sony Ericsson took place under sunny azure skies. The entire leg ran for 529 kilometers from the village of Altai to the district of Bayankhongor.
Mechanics and service crews worked all night in order to prepare the cars for the long stage. 24 of the former 34 teams, who started off in Moscow, were able to accept today’s challenge. Before the start, the organizer Richard Schalber said: “It proves true that the Transsyberia is the most difficult rally in the world.”
Team Germany 1 continued its winning streak. Just as they did yesterday, duo Armin Schwarz/Andreas Schulz arrived first at the destination. The day’s winner was in an extremely good mood in the camp: “On this terrain, one can easily overlook something. In the steppe one is fast, and then suddenly a ditch appears, which the water has torn. We didn’t go full throttle, because on easily overlook those kind of traps. Andi did a perfect job today. We gave everything that was difficult a wide berth and could therefore play out our speed”, said Schwarz in the evening. In the overall standings, Team Germany 1 kept closing in on the leading Christian Lavieille and Francois Borsotto (Team France) who crossed the finish line in sixth. (+ 0:34:53). “To catch up with the French is pretty much impossible. They’re a well-rehearsed team with off-road and Dakar experience. They don’t make any navigation mistakes and they don’t damage their car. In order for us to catch up with them before Ulaanbaatar, they would have to make a really crass mistake”, stated Schwarz. The distance of Team Germany 1 to Team France is 1:24:54 hours.
Other placements: Pilot Pau Soler (Team Spain) steered his car about 20 minutes behind Schwarz/Schulz into second place. Thanks to the accomplished navigation by co-pilot Laia Peinado the Spaniards pushed into third place in the overall standings.
About nine kilometers before the destination, Team Qatar drove into a hidden cross groove at high speed. They broke the rear suspension of the Porsche Cayenne S Transsyberia as a result. Adel Abdulla and Norbert Lutteri rolled over the finish line on three wheels (+ 0:32:01). The mechanics will have another long night, in order to get the car of last year’s third placed ready for tomorrow’s special stage and river crossings.
After yesterday’s setback, Team Portugal was on the road to success again today. In the special stage, Pedro Gameiro and Pedro Figueiredo drove into fourth place (+ 0:32:36).
The Danner Racing Team is satisfied with the course of the day. With his Mercedes G 320 the Austrian Christof Danner reached the destined camp near Bayankhongor in 1:06:14 hours (9th place). “After the malfunctions it was about time! The repairs were worth it. The stretch was variable, we were always on the move and we didn’t get lost”, navigator Jan Szekeres stated satisfied. “I just had to slow Christoph down, when the helicopter with the TV crew and the photographers flew over us. He automatically sped up to present himself well. But I had to still follow the drawings in the road book and apply them”, said Szekeres.
The day turned out less satisfactory for Lars Kern and Daniel van Kan (Team Germany 3). Yesterday’s second placed weren’t able to continue the stage due to presumed engine failure and were towed into the camp.
Navigation and technical ability played as important a part during the fourth section in the Mongolia, as did endurance and team spirit in the cockpit. Lots of grooves, potholes and hidden ditches hampered the crossing of the terrain. The heat and dust made matters worse. In addition, the last segment led uphill through a silty riverbed, which was barely wider than the cars of the rally participants. In other passages, the wide Mongolian plain invited high speeds. Some teams saw this as an opportunity to overtake at high tempo and make some places good. “Attack was the only chance to play in the upper league of the rally again”, said Ryan Millen (Team USA), who lost several hours yesterday.
Tomorrow the second to last stage of the Transsyberia Rally 2008 powered by Sony Ericsson, takes place. It runs for 339 km to Mongol Els, before, on Friday, the final destination of the rally, Ulaanbaatar, is focused on.
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