•All the six cars to get a full check-up
Those who believe that the Dakar Rally competitors laze around, on the rest day, are totally mistaken. The people in the bivouac at San Miguel de Tucuman are extremely busy, today – and it goes without saying that this also applies to those working in the Monster Energy X-raid Team’s service park. There, all the five MINI ALL4 Racing vehicles and the BMW X3 CC are stripped and checked by the mechanics before the crews change the parts that have to be replaced and reassemble the cars.
For the drivers and co-drivers, an ordinary day of racing certainly is more exhausting than the rest day but their schedule for today features interview by interview, with Stéphane Peterhansel, who holds the 2013 Dakar Rally lead since day two, being of particular interest for the media.
“This was the toughest start into a Dakar Rally since the event was moved to South America,” reveals the Frenchman.
“But I’m fit and now, the second week may come. Nonetheless, it’s nice that I can relax a little bit, today.” Peterhansel still holds a 3:14-minute lead over second-placed buggy driver Nasser Al Attiyah.
With Leonid Novitskiy, Nani Roma and Orlanda Terranova in fourth, seventh and eighth positions respectively, another three X-raid team drivers also hold top-10 positions.
“The first week was really eventful,” says Monster Energy X-raid Team Manager Sven Quandt.
“The gaps – apart from the one between the two leaders – are amazingly big. Today, our cars get a full check-up as we want to be perfectly prepared for the second week.”
At the same time, yesterday’s special stage still was the topic of numerous discussions in the bivouac. The minor tidal wave that filled a dried-up riverbed quickly, following heavy rain in the Andes, impressed numerous drivers massively. And as many car got stuck or had to make a detour, they arrived at the bivouac only late in the evening. Consequently, the rest day is even more important for the teams.
Result 8th stage:
1st G. Chicherit (FRA) / J.-P. Garsin (FRA) Buggy – 1h 55m 06s
2nd O. Terranova (ARG) / P. Fiúza (POR) BMW X3 CC – 1h 59m 08s
3rd 2. R. Gordon (USA) / K. Walch (USA) Hummer – 1h 48m 35s
4th S. Peterhansel (FRA) / J.-P. Cottret (FRA) MINI ALL4 Racing – 2h 07m 21s
...
8th L. Novitskiy (RUS) / K. Zhiltsov (RUS) MINI ALL4 Racing – 2h 07m 21s
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12th N. Roma (ESP) / M. Périn (FRA) MINI ALL4 Racing – 2h 07m 21s
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25th S. Schott (GER) / H. Schmidt (GER) MINI ALL4 Racing – 2h 07m 21s
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27th B. Garafulic (CHI) / G. Picard (FRA) MINI ALL4 Racing – 2h 07m 21s
(all the following drivers were ranked with Stéphane Peterhansel’s time)
Overall standings after the 8th stage:
1st S. Peterhansel (FRA) / J.-P. Cottret (FRA) MINI ALL4 Racing – 18h 31m 04s
2nd N. Al Attiyah (QAT) / L. Cruz (ESP) Buggy – 18h 34m 18s
3rd G. De Villiers (RSA) / D. Von Zitzewitz (GER) Toyota – 19h 15m 07s~
4th L. Novitskiy (RUS) / K. Zhiltsov (RUS) MINI ALL4 Racing – 19h 19m 58s
...
7th N. Roma (ESP) / M. Périn (FRA) MINI ALL4 Racing – 20h 09m 31s
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8th O. Terranova (ARG) / P. Fiúza (POR) BMW X3 CC – 20h 29m 29s
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14th B. Garafulic (CHI) / G. Picard (FRA) MINI ALL4 Racing – 21h 20m 05s
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59th S. Schott (GER) / H. Schmidt (GER) MINI ALL4 Racing – 32h 36m 50s
