13ª Etapa "ESPECTACULAR” para Bianchi Prata!

13ª e penúltima etapa da rainha das provas de todo-o-terreno foi alterada ontem à noite devido às zonas alagadas que impediam a passagem segura dos concorrentes. O piloto da equipa Bianchi Prata/CIN enfrentou a etapa com força, motivado para ganhar uns lugares na classificação. Após a sua partida atrás dos moto 4, Bianchi Prata, na sua BMW G 450 X, conseguiu ultrapassar chegando ao final do troço cronometrado em trigésimo primeiro lugar.

Pedro Bianchi Prata:

“Foi uma especial fácil, sem armadilhas. Apanhei algum pó porque arranquei atrás dos moto 4 mas o piso era bom e deu para ultrapassar. O troço escolhido era do mundial de rally, havia milhares de pessoas a ver. O apoio aqui é imenso e sente-se em cada etapa. Nunca vi nada assim. O percurso era espectacular. Foi reduzido por causa da chuva tornando-se menos exigente fisicamente do que estava previsto. Andei seguro e certinho, sem grandes dificuldades. É difícil de explicar o que se vive aqui. São muitos dias, o cansaço acumula-se. Mas agora que está quase a acabar sei que vou ter saudades dos desafios diários que enfrentamos neste rally.”

Após 13 dias de prova em dois países, os concorrentes voltam para Buenos Aires onde tudo começou. Uma especial contra o relógio de 227km num terreno já familiar de caminhos longos e alguma navegação.

www.bianchiprata.com

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Paulo Gonçalves no Top 10

O percurso do dia de hoje foi marcado pela chuva e pelo vento, convidados inesperados nesta 12ª etapa, tornando a especial ainda mais difícil. “A etapa de hoje foi pequena mas muito dura, com muitos caminhos off-road, muita navegação. A especial foi toda ela em areia e a travessia das dunas foi muito complicada e muito desgastante para a moto. Agora que o rali está em contagem decrescente a prudência é fundamental de modo a conseguir manter as classificações actuais”, comentou o piloto de Esposende.

Terminada a travessia do Atacama, Paulo Gonçalves está agora na 10ª posição da geral e mantém o 2º lugar na classe, estando dentro dos objectivos a que inicialmente se propôs.

Devido a descobertas arqueológicas feitas há um mês na região de Fiambala e devido ao facto desses tesouros arqueológicos estarem no percurso do rali, as autoridades argentinas pediram à organização a alteração da rota da 12ª etapa. È claro que a organização acedeu ao pedido e a etapa ficou reduzida em cerca de 30 km...

Para o dia de hoje, 277 equipas – 132 motas e quads, 89 carros e 56 camiões – têm autorização para arrancar, elevando assim o número de desistências para 222. Após um dia de ligação e quando não houve assistência no bivouac de Fiambala, os participantes no rali têm pela frente uma etapa com 502 km, dos quais 253 km em especial cronometrada. A especial de hoje é muito técnica, com vários tipos de dunas, incluindo as espectaculares “dunas brancas”, muito diferente daquelas a que estão habituados, porque estas são de uma areia muito mais fina.

Para o dia de hoje a regra de ouro é os pilotos saberem poupar as suas máquinas. A apenas a três dias do final, esta etapa poderá ser decisiva em termos de classificações.

O percurso de amanhã fará a ligação entre La Rioja e Cordoba, com uma especial de 545 km, onde no final do dia terão sido percorridos 753 km.

Fonte: www.ttverde.pt

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Kuipers perde a opurtunidade de alcançar o 7º lugar, nas dunas argentinas (Press Original)

• X-raid’s Russia’s Novitskiy survives stage fright to take fifth
• Frenchman Chicherit delayed into La Rioja but 10th quickest
• Stage stopped after 175km because cars stuck in dunes

LA RIOJA (Argentina): Two of the X-raid Sails Capital Racing Team’s three BMW X3 CCs safely survived the perilous 12th special stage of the 2009 Dakar Rally between Fiambalá and La Rioja in north-western Argentina on Thursday.

Leonid Novitskiy and Guerlain Chicherit set the fifth and 10th fastest times and confirmed unofficial eighth and ninth places in the overall standings. But flying Dutch team mate René Kuipers lost a potential seventh position overall when he became stuck in some difficult sand dunes 171km into a 220km stage which also claimed overall leader Carlos Sainz after an accident and Spaniard Joan Roma. The ASO took a decision to stop the stage late on Thursday afternoon and Kuipers was en route to La Rioja and waiting to see what time penalties, if any, he would incur.

"I think this was the hardest day of the entire race," said team director Sven Quandt. "Leonid did a great job, but he was also very lucky. He had no major problems and he helped to put the Volkswagen (Carlos Sainz) back on its wheels, which makes his result even more impressive.

"Guerlain lost a lot of time over the last part, but I am astonished that the race was stopped this afternoon. Maybe there are a lot of cars still in the dunes and it is getting late, but this is the fourth time that this has happened now. I think the organisers underestimated the track and this should not happen with an organisation like the ASO and a race like the Dakar."

X-raid Russia’s Leonid Novitskiy and Oleg Tyupenkin began the stage from seventh position on the road and set a superb fifth fastest time in their BMW X3 CC to move ever closer to the top 10, with Chicherit losing time in the dunes and recording the 10th quickest time.

A total of 132 bikes and quads, 89 cars and 56 trucks were permitted to start the 12th stage into La Rioja, where a fierce thunderstorm and heavy early morning rain had relieved some of the oppressive heat of the previous afternoon. The stage was reduced by around 33km at the
overnight briefing at a dust-strewn bivouac in Fiambalá, when event officials discovered that the original route was scheduled to cross an archaeological site.

Overall leader Carlos Sainz dramatically rolled out of the rally before the first passage control, where Mark Miller was the fastest driver and Chicherit and Novitskiy were running in third and sixth positions, despite the Russian surviving a huge scare at the deceptive corner where Sainz crashed and spending several minutes helping to put Sainz’s car back on its wheels.

Kuipers was a safe 12th and looked set to climb to seventh in the overall rankings following Sainz’s retirement but, both he and Chicherit were delayed late on, as Giniel de Villiers set the fastest time and moved into an overall lead. Kuipers eventually got going again but the stage was stopped by race officials.

Portuguese privateer Ricardo Leal Dos Santos was also running well inside the top 10 in his BMW X5 and held a virtual seventh position at the second passage control on the day’s stage, before losing time in the treacherous sand dunes.

Tomorrow (Friday) is the penultimate day of competitive action in this year’s Dakar Rally and features a 545km special stage in a total route of 753km between La Rioja and Córdoba, Argentina’s second city.

Event officials have likened sections of this stage to the type of terrain more at home on the FIA World Rally Championship and it is sure to favour the faster, technical drivers. It begins south of Patquia and heads east towards El Chaco, before pressing south to a fourth PC at Salsacate.

The stage then heads north through classic WRC Rally of Argentina territory to Villa de Seco and finishes just short of Villa Carlos Paz, the base for the WRC event, to the west of Córdoba. The city is situated in the foothills of the Sierra Chicas, 390 metres above sea level, on the Suquía River and is one of the oldest former Spanish colonial capitals.

Press X-raid

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Rodrigues mantém 5ª posição

Hélder Rodrigues concluiu hoje a 12ª etapa do Rali Dakar Argentina- Chile na 10ª posição e manteve o 5º posto da geral conquistado há dois dias. Uma prestação brilhante numa prova onde as desistências têm sido mais que muitas.

Depois de um dia apenas de ligação e sem assistência no bivouac de Fiambalá, hoje a 12ª etapa do Rali Dakar Argentina-Chile levou a caravana até La Rioja. Num dia em que o troço cronometrado devia ter tido 253km mas, a pedido das autoridades argentinas, acabou por ser encurtado em cerca de 30km para não prejudicar os achados arqueológicos recentemente encontrados no local, Hélder Rodrigues continuou a mostrar toda a sua classe e terminou o dia na 10ª posição, mantendo o 5º posto da geral.

Se ontem foi o nevoeiro que marcou presença, hoje a novidade foi a chuva que batida a vento complicou a vida aos motards, neste momento reduzidos a 132 elementos. Uma dificuldade acrescida que fez com que Hélder tivesse alguns cuidados na sua condução, até para não comprometer a excelente posição que detém na geral, quando faltam apenas três dias para a chegada a Buenos Aires.

Amanhã a 13ª etapa entre La Rioja e Córdoba será longa. Os 545km cronometrados, dos 563 que compõem a tirada, exigirão prudência. Exigente, esta será uma etapa onde os erros se pagarão caro. Algo a que Hélder Rodrigues - que dista cerca de 8 minutos do quarto classificado, o francês David Casteu - estará especialmente atento, já que apesar da vontade de melhorar a classificação de 2007, altura em que ficou na 5ª posição, também não quer deitar a perder o que conquistou até agora.

www.redbull.pt

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Volkswagen lidera o rally com De Villiers na frente de Miller (Press Original)

Wolfsburg (15 January 2009). Volkswagen maintained a one-two lead on what proved to be the Dakar Rally’s most turbulent day so far. On the twelfth of 14 legs Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz (ZA/D) in the Race Touareg took the lead in front of their team-mates Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/ZA). Carlos Sainz/Michel Périn (E/F), who had been leading the rally ever since the seventh leg, retired after an accident. Dieter Depping/Timo Gottschalk (D/D) reached the stage finish in La Rioja in fourth place and thus improved to sixth position in the overall standings.

The 223-kilometre special stage from Fiambala to La Rioja saw not just one but two changes in the lead in the desert classic. Sainz/Périn had an accident after 79 kilometres and the duo was fored to retire due to Michel Périn having suffered a broken shoulder blade. On the special stage and in the virtual interim classification Miller/Pitchford were running in front over long distances and maintained their lead almost up to the final dune belt of the stage. But then de Villiers/von Zitzewitz converted the 2m18s gap into a stage lead of 16m17s, thanks to good navigating. They thus took over first place overall as well and, before the last two legs, are running 2m35s in front of Miller/Pitchford, who are also driving a Race Touareg powered by 280 hp.

After the Spaniards Nani Roma/Lucas Cruz in the field of those chasing the front runners, as the only remaining Mitsubishi duo, encountered technical problems, Robby Gordon/Andy Grider (USA/USA) in the Hummer are now in third place overall. However, they are lacking as much as 1h18m to the leading Volkswagen.

Kris Nissen (Volkswagen Motorsport Director)
"The most important news is that the accident of Carlos Sainz and Michel Périn did not result in any severe personal injuries. Both of them are very disappointed that the ‘Dakar’ is over for them, but at the same time they’re relieved that with a shoulder injury for Michel the incident did not result in really serious consequences. We wish Michel a speedy recovery. But – we knew that to win, we’d first have to overcome the ‘Dakar’ itself. With Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz and Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford we’ve still got two irons in the fire to win the Dakar Rally with the Race Touareg and TDI power.”

#301 – Carlos Sainz (E), retired
"Suddenly, a four-metre deep hole appeared in front of us. We fell into it and landed on our roof. A BMW and Nani Roma were able to get around us at the last moment. The BMW team stopped and helped us to put the car back on its wheels. In the meantime an ASO doctor had arrived who briefly checked Michel Périn and barred him from continuing the drive on account of a shoulder injury. The Race Touareg was by and large okay, the engine was running. Of course we were lucky in this situation as well. I’m very disappointed and I’m very sorry for the team that we’re out, but I’m hoping that our team will win in the end anyhow.”

#301 – Michel Périn (F), co-driver
"About 30 kilometres before our accident we’d lost our way but soon found the right route again. We were heading towards the next waypoint, I counted down the distance – as always – and just as I was saying ‘20 metres’ we dropped into this whole. Even the days before, the roadbook had not been particularly accurate and today we paid the price for it. I broke a shoulder blade in the accident and that ended the rally for me and Carlos. I’m very sorry for the team. But I’m hoping that in the end a ‘blue’ vehicle will finish in front.”

#305 – Giniel de Villiers (ZA), 1st place leg / 1st place overall
"It was an incredibly rough day for us. Although the special stage today was short, it was extremely slow. The organiser selected routes with large stones, deep and super-soft sand. In addition, there were some places left out in the roadbook, which of course made the navigation extremely difficult. But about five kilometres before the finish my co-driver Dirk von Zitzewitz made up a lot of time for us when he found the quickest way while others were still looking for it.”

#307 – Dieter Depping (D), 4th place leg / 6th place overall
"I think today wasn’t just 100 per cent ‘Dakar’, it was more like 120 per cent ‘Dakar’. The dunes were incredibly hard to handle, lots of vegetation that made life difficult for us, and we had to cross riverbeds several times. My co-driver Timo Gottschalk had his work cut out for him. Many branch-offs were hard to see and the roadbook led us astray several times today as well. So, today had everything a rally day could offer.”

#308 – Mark Miller (USA), 2nd place leg / 2nd place overall
"Today is one of those days where there’s a lot to talk about. The special stage has definitely been the most difficult one of this ‘Dakar’ so far. Particularly in the sand we had to work hard, we got stuck several times and had to dig ourselves out. On several occasions we let some air out of the tyres and filled them up again after the difficult passages. Once we got stuck, and when I left the car I only then realized we’d lost the rear part of the body – I haven’t noticed beforehand that we’d lost it at all. We were leading for a long time, but lost time again at the end. The overall gap between me and my team colleague Giniel de Villiers is small now – but the main thing is that a Volkswagen will be in front in the end.”

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From the Volkswagen bivouac
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- Historic mark achieved – Race Touareg with 30th stage victory: Almost unnoticed amidst dramatic sporting events on the twelfth leg, Volkswagen achieved a historic best mark. With the win clinched by Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz (ZA/D) today, the Race Touareg celebrated its 30th "Dakar” stage victory in five "Dakar” competitions since its 2004 debut. The South African-German duo now clinched the ninth stage win for the Volkswagen Race Touareg at the current edition of the desert classic. In total, Volkswagen – the winner of the 1980 Dakar Rally – has decided as many as 37 stages of the cross-country competition in its favour. On Thursday, exactly one week ago, Volkswagen again took the lead in the overall standings and has maintained it ever since. On ten of twelve competition days at least one Race Touareg was running in front.

- Expect the unexpected – heavy rain before twelfth "Dakar” leg: It is known as Argentina’s hottest region but just before the twelfth leg of the Dakar Rally the section between Fiambalá and La Rioja presented itself in a different way. The morning was dominated by perennial rain before La Rioja had sunshine again, with hot temperatures of 37 degrees. But just the evening before temperatures at the bivouac in Fiambalá had been up to 48 degrees.

- Almost 30 years with Volkswagen: Service Truck driver Axel Schröder: A real character in the racing community and the heart and soul of the Volkswagen team: Service Truck driver Axel Schröder will celebrate his 30th anniversary with the Volkswagen brand on 26 April. From the assembly line in passenger car production he moved via the research and development department into motorsport. There, Schröder has so far accompanied all "Dakar” editions with the Race Touareg since 2004.

Volkswagen Motorsport

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KTM continua tranquila na frente

Coma continues victory charge; another stage win for DespresKTM's two leading factory riders, Marc Coma and Cyril Despres, both veterans and winners of previous Dakar rallies, were again in a class of their own in Stage 12 of the 2009 race.

Coma continues his charge to overall victory with a commanding lead of one hour 29'48"and Despres, as stage winner, dislodged Frenchman David Fretegne and is now in second place.Despres (Red Bull KTM) finished just 1'23 ahead of Marc Coma (Repsol KTM) with Gerard Farres (KTM) third (at 9'47). Fretigne is now third overall just 4 minutes 7 seconds behind Despres (at 1h33'55).

Unexpected downpour in Stage 12

Riders faced another weather phenomenon on Thursday when the Argentinean skies opened up to a downpour of rain, which, together with accompanying wind, added another difficult dimension to the day's ride. The original course had also been shortened by about 30km to bypass recently discovered archeological treasures on the original route.

Cyril Despres (Red Bull KTM) 1st and 2nd overall (at 1h29'48)

The navigation was really difficult today, it was like a treasure hunt and it is always a pleasure when you find the right point. Then 3 or 4 kilometres from the end it got a little less fun with a modification to the road book that wasn't too clear and I lost some minutes. I heard Frétigné's engine at the first refuelling CP and it didn't sound too good so I guessed there was a good chance of getting the second place overall.

Marc Coma (Repsol KTM) 2nd (at 1'23) 1st overall

It started to rain this morning at breakfast and we were a little bit worried what that would do to the special. . Fortunately it wasn't too bad. There were some places where it was a little muddy, but nothing serious. The thing that made today difficult was the navigation - particularly at the end. I don't think the road book was wrong, just difficult to interpret. The sand was also very soft which didn't make life any easier!

Alain Duclos (Kaestle KTM) 13th (at 27'24) 35th overall (at 13h10'18)

As planned I waited at the start of the Cyril (Despres) to pass. Marc (Coma) passed me at km 90 but must have gone wrong afterwards because we arrived at CP1 together. I did the rest of the special with Marc in sight - except right at the end when it wasn't too clear to find the pass.

Jordi Viladoms (Repsol KTM) 15th (at 32'40) 7th overall (at 2h27'57)

I waited for Marc and then lost him again and spent the whole day alone. Then at the end I really struggled to get the last waypoint. At one moment I was 300 metres away but there was a cliff between me and it - it was extremely frustrating.

Stage 13 - Friday a long special and plenty of cacti Covering territory used in other rallies, the penultimate stage on Friday, from Argentina's La Rioja to Cordoba, is likely to attract a lot of local support. Riders will need their full attention to work their way through the cactus country including a physically draining 545 km special.

Press KTM

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Patronelli vence nos Quads e Chagin volta à liderança

A categoria dos Quads acaba por ser a menos interessante em termos desportivos, pois Josef Machacek continua a liderar com uma enorme vantagem de 2 horas e 30 minutos sobre o segundo classificado, que é Patronelli.

Patronelli foi o vencedor do dia, ganhando mais de meia hora ao líder Machacek. Ainda assim o argentino nada poderá fazer para atacar a liderança, pois a diferença é muito grande e resta-lhe apenas esperar que o líder passe por algum problema.

Deltrieu foi o terceiro na etapa de hoje e continua na 4ª posição da geral, enquanto Sonik foi o 4º e continua no pódio, na terceira posição.

Ao rubro está a luta nos camiões, que é para já a categoria mais disputada, onde apenas 1 minutos e 33 segundos separa o líder Chagin do 2º classificado, Kabirov, com ambas as equipas a tripularem um Kamaz.

Gerard De Rooy continua tranquilamente na 3ª posição à espera que alguma das duas equipas da frente tenha problemas. O mesmo acontece com Mardeev e Echter que continuam na 4ª e 5ª posições, respectivamente.

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12ª Etapa do Dakar “UM SONHO DE DIA” para Bianchi Prata

Num dia marcado pela visita inesperada da chuva, a 12ª etapa do Dakar, reduzida por cerca de 30km devido à descoberta de tesouros arqueológicos no percurso delineado, teve cerca de 223km contra o relógio num troço descrito pelo Pedro Bianchi Prata como “um verdadeiro dia de rally”. Visivelmente satisfeito com a etapa que contou com dunas de areia branca gigantes e muita navegação, o piloto da equipa Bianchi Prata/CIN, melhorou a sua classificação chegando ao fim da especial em trigésimo terceiro da geral.

Pedro Bianchi Prata: “Foi um sonho de dia. Nunca vi dunas de areia tão branca. Choveu muito no início mas nem dei conta. Adorei… Foi o primeiro dia de Rally a sério! A especial era técnica e com muita navegação com way-points bem escondidos! Na parte final havia uma passagem de um desfiladeiro em que a navegação era particularmente difícil. Mas em geral só posso dizer que foi um espectáculo de etapa. Deu-me muito gozo, acho que o que mais marca este Dakar é a variedade de paisagens e percursos que enfrentamos. São muitos dias mas todos diferentes e isso aumenta o desafio porque temos que nos adaptar aos diferentes terrenos. É fantástico. Arranco todos os dias com vontade de descobrir qual vai ser o desafio do dia, sempre com a bandeira de Portugal nas minhas costas!”

Amanhã a especial entre La Rioja e Cordoba prevista de 545km é a penúltima deste Dakar. Após tantos quilómetros percorridos, o dia vai ser longo com um total de 753km no menu.

www.bianchiprata.com

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