• All three MINI ALL4 Racing vehicles hold top-five positions
The first days of Egypt’s Pharaons Rally proved to be a period of mixed emotions for Team X-raid. Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT) and his French co-driver Mathieu Baumel currently hold second position behind Saudi Arabia’s Yazeed Al-Rajhi. The current FIA Cross Country Rally World Cup leaders, the Russians Vladimir Vasilyev and Konstantin Zhiltsov, are fourth with their MINI ALL4 Racing, followed by the third MINI ALL4 Racing pairing, Dutchmen Erik van Loon and Wouter Rosegaar, in fifth place.
Following his success in the prologue, Al-Attiyah encountered a difficult start into the rally. In the first stage, he lost his way and consequently, he crossed the finish line some 13 minutes behind the leaders. On the following day he suffered three punctures but won the stage, nevertheless – to repeat this success in today’s third stage.
Vasilyev finished runner-up in the first two stages and also held second place in the overall standings. The third day, however, didn’t run as scheduled, for him: a suspension-arm bolt broke and the Russians were forced to stop. They were able to repair the damage on site but lost an hour, compared to the leaders. Dutchman van Loon also had to cope with two good days and a difficult one. In the first and third stages he finished third but on day two, he lost about an hour due to v-belt problems.
“On the one hand the Toyotas are extremely fast, here,” said Team Manager Sven Quandt, “And on the other, we weren’t exactly what you would call lucky, on the past days. Now, there still are another two days to go and we have to deliver in fine style without encountering new problems. Vladimir in particular is in a promising position for gaining a position in the overall rankings to add more points to his FIA World Cup tally.”
Results Stage 3:
1. N. Al-Attiyah (QAT) / M. Baumel (FRA) MINI ALL4 Racing – 2h 41m 46s
2. Y. Al-Rahji (SAU) / T. Gottschalk (GER) Toyota – 2h 43m 06s
3. E. van Loon (NDL) / W. Rosegaar (NDL) MINI ALL4 Racing – 2h 51m 03s
4. M. Dabrowski (POL) / J. Czachor (POL) Toyota – 2h 51m 37m
5. M. Zapletal (CZE) / M. Marton (CZE) Hummer – 3h 00m 30s
...
7. V. Vasilyev (RUS) / K. Zhiltsov (RUS) MINI ALL4 Racing – 3h 39m 04s
