G-Force Motorsport

Dakar 2013. Day three: surprising

Tuesday, 08 January 2013 01:16

Stage 3 at Dakar 2013 beyond expectation was not a revelation. Though the track navigation was more complicated than before, the surface type changed frequently, the sand became softer and slopes more scarp, most of racers were quite satisfied with the special and readily shared there experiences.

Cyril Despres (France, #1): I had a fairly good special. Nothing out of the ordinary, but I think I made significant progress in the general classification today. I started in 12th place but I soon caught up with the leaders and I was at the front of the race from km 190 onwards. Considering that I started 20 minutes after Barreda and Pedrero, I think I did quite well!

Quite well for him meant to win almost 9 minutes and take the 1st line in overall after three days (first three):

Position Name Make Time Variation Penalty
1 1 DESPRES (FRA) KTM 6:15:03 - -
2 7 LOPEZ (CHL) KTM 6:17:54 0:02:51 -
3 8 ULLEVALSETER (NOR) KTM 6:20:02 0:04:59 -

Bikes standings after three days>>>

Marcos Patronelly (Argentina, #250): It was a beautiful stage, not unlike yesterday's. It also had lots of stones and cobbles towards the end. Tthe tyres didn't enjoy it. I had a flat 30-40 kilometres from the finish. But everything went well. I'm happy with the stage. I feel fine. The quad's in perfect working order. It was a great day.

Yet last year he proved that if everything went well the only person who could be faster was his brother. And this time Marcos justifies his 1st position after 3 stages (first three quads):

1 250 PATRONELLI (ARG) YAMAHA 6:55:40 - -
2 265 HUSSEINI (ARE) HONDA 6:59:58 0:04:18 -
3 254 CASALE (CHL) YAMAHA 7:25:18 0:29:38 -

Quads standings now>>>

Nasser Al Attiyah (Qatar, #300): We won the stage and clawed four minutes back from Stéphane. And it could have been even better, but we stopped for a couple of minutes to help Carlos. It looked like he was having problems with the electronics and the engine cut-out, and since we couldn't do anything to about it, we kept going and didn't see any more cars until the finish line. The sand was very soft today and I decided not to go flat out because the car's very new and we still don't know how far it can go. No problems so far.

Though Stéphane Peterhansel is leading after the three days his benefit of 6.5 minutes is inappreciably if measured in rally raids. (first ten cars after three days):

1 302 PETERHANSEL (FRA) MINI 5:34:26 - -
COTTRET (FRA)
2 300 AL-ATTIYAH (QAT) BUGGY 5:40:59 0:06:33 -
CRUZ (ESP)
3 306 ÁLVAREZ (ARG) TOYOTA 5:52:37 0:18:11 -
GRAUE (ARG)
4 307 NOVISTKIY (RUS) MINI 5:55:36 0:21:10 -
ZHILTSOV (RUS)
5 303 SAINZ (ESP) BUGGY 5:55:42 0:21:16 -
GOTTSCHALK (DEU)
6 301 DE VILLIERS (ZAF) TOYOTA 6:04:48 0:30:22 -
VON ZITZEWITZ (DEU)
7 305 ROMA (ESP) MINI 6:07:22 0:32:56 -
PÉRIN (FRA)
8 313 TERRANOVA (ARG) BMW 6:09:39 0:35:13 -
FIUZA (PRT)
9 321 ERRANDONEA (AND) SMG 6:12:58 0:38:32 0:01:00
DEBRON (FRA)
10 316 CHABOT (FRA) SMG 6:14:06 0:39:40 0:01:00
PILLOT (FRA)

A fever was the state of the cars standings during the day. Morning came with the news of Carlos Sainz’s restoral of 20 minutes he lost before so he returned to the 1st position. Poor surprise for Nasser Al-Attiyah was to find himself the last in standings with margin of 9 hours! The bug in the system was fixed shortly but had enough time to get on the team’s nerves. 

Carlos Sainz got some electrical issues with his buggy engine on the first kilometers of the special. He lost about 20 minutes for this (maybe the same 20 minutes he just regained).

Next came Krzysztof Holowczyc crash that led to his withdrawal with his ribs and back injuries.

Unfortunately Vladimir Vasiliev had a harder day. Two punctures is actually something to be prepared for in the Dakar but one of the sharper dunes caught him out. The drop was longer than he expected, the nose dug in and the car flipped. Over an hour was lost as they got their G-Force Proto back on its wheels.  Vasiliev’s roll means that he also tumbles down the leaderboard to 28th place. But at the finish he was still in a good mood. “This is still only the beginning,” he smiled.

 

Boris Gadasin pleased his fans with his 8th time at the finish that means his is 12th in overall and 3 minutes ahead of Robby Gordon. The crew comments the day after finishing>>>

 

Full standings for cars after 3 days>>>

Eduard Nikolaev brought his KAMAZ to the 2nd place on the special that pulls him up to the 4th line in overall.

A great present for Miki Biasion for his  55th birthday was his third time of the day.

But Gerard De Rooy stays leading the race. Gerard De Rooy (Netherlands, #500): Yes, everything has gone well so far, but a puncture could cost us 15 minutes whereas right now we're only gaining 2 every day. Therefore, you can't rule out anybody yet, and I continue drive really carefully to avoid the slighest mistake. This is what the challenge is all about: driving fast but within your limits.

First ten trucks after three days:

 

1 500 DE ROOY (NLD) IVECO 6:23:15 - -
COLSOUL (BEL)
RODEWALD (NLD)
2 503 LOPRAIS (CZE) TATRA 6:30:14 0:06:59 -
BRUYNKENS (BEL)
PUSTĚJOVSKÝ (CZE)
3 507 BIASION (ITA) IVECO 6:36:41 0:13:26 -
FIORI (ITA)
HUISMAN (NLD)
4 501 NIKOLAEV (RUS) KAMAZ 6:44:59 0:21:44 -
SAVOSTIN (RUS)
RYBAKOV (RUS)
5 509 VERSLUIS (NLD) MAN 6:51:36 0:28:21 0:01:00
SCHUURMANS (NLD)
DAMEN (BEL)
6 506 KOLOMY (CZE) TATRA 7:01:30 0:38:15 -
KILIÁN (CZE)
KILIAN (CZE)
7 505 MARDEEV (RUS) KAMAZ 7:06:42 0:43:27 -
BELYAEV (RUS)
MIRNIY (RUS)
8 511 VAN DEN BRINK (NLD) GINAF 7:15:12 0:51:57 -
WILLEMSEN (BEL)
VEENVLIET (NLD)
9 517 ARDAVICHUS (KAZ) KAMAZ 7:29:59 1:06:44 -
NIKIZHEV (KAZ)
TURLUBAYEV (KAZ)
10 504 STACEY (NLD) IVECO 7:36:08 1:12:53 -
RUF (DEU)
DER KINDEREN (NLD)

Full standings>>>

Day 4 takes the teams over the mountains down to sea level… and back up again, an elevation change of some 2200 metres! At 280km it’s also the longest of the rally so far. Vasiliev has some time to recover while Gadasin has eyes on the Top 10… a hallowed place to be for a Dakar first-timer!

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Photo: www.dakar.com and G-Force Motorsport

 

Live rsultes, Dakar 2013 official site, photogallery,

Championat.com, FreeDRIVE radio report,

ASTANA team video report