· Teams prepare for 10th stage from Zhangye to Jiayuguan on Tuesday morning
French driver Christian Lavieille gave Haval its second stage victory on the 2015 China Silk Road Rally, when he and navigator Jean-Pierre Garcin won the televised 2.01km super special stage at the Zhangye stadium on Monday.
Damp conditions prevailed for the shortest day of the 13-day rally and Lavieille mastered the slippery track better than the rest to pip rally leader Stéphane Peterhansel to the fastest time by just one second. Action was beamed live around China for one hour by CCTV5.
The leading cars were separated by mere seconds and status quo remained at the head of the leader board, although Dutchman Jan Mooij suffered problems at the end of the special with his repaired McRae Evolution and dropped over a minute to the leaders.
Adrian Di Lallo and Harry Suzuki also experienced technical issues with their Red Earth Motorsport Isuzu MU-X and dropped a further 10 minutes to the front-runners. The Hispanic crew of Leonidas Marmolejo and Maximiliano Blanco completed the stage in 33rd in their 4WD Jaton Racing Team Toyota Hilux and now hold 28th in the overall standings.
Spaniard Armand Monleón Hernandez pipped Su Wen Min to the quickest time in the motorcycle category, but there were no changes to the overall standings, as riders’ attention switched to the remaining four desert stages of the event, which finishes in Dunhuang on Friday. Monleón takes a lead of 38min 11sec into Tuesday’s stage.
The rally is being organised by the China Silk Road Rally Auto Sports Management Company Limited, in association with CCTV Sports and Entertainment Company Ltd. and the Beijing Motorsports Development Company, with the full cooperation of the Federation of Automobile Sports of China (FASC) and the support of the sporting bureaux of several Chinese regions.
Tomorrow (Tuesday), competitors leave Zhangye on a liaison of 54.05km to the start of a 175.89km special stage at Pingshan Lake. The special finishes in Gaotal and a second liaison of 191.10km guides teams to the bivouac at the Xuanbi Great Wall in Jiayuguan.
Jiayuguan City is a prefecture-level city in the northwest of Gansu province and is most noted for the nearby Jiayu Pass, the largest and most intact pass on the western end of the Great Wall of China.
2015 China Silk Road Rally – overall positions after SS9 (Cars):
1. Stéphane Peterhansel (FRA)/Jean-Paul Cottret (FRA) Peugeot 2008 DKR 15hr 00min 22sec
2. Cyril Despres (FRA)/David Castera (FRA) Peugeot 2008 DKR 15hr 23min 21sec
3. Han Wei (CHN)/Pan Hong Yu (CHN) Haval 15hr 42min 12sec
4. Christian Lavieille (FRA)/Jean-Pierre Garcin (FRA) Haval 15hr 43min 32sec
5. Lui Kun (CHN)/Liao Min (CHN) Mitsubishi Pajero MPR11 16hr 13min 23sec
6. Gong Liangliang (CHN)/Xu Duoduo (CHN) Mitsubishi MPR13 18hr 23min 01sec
