2018 Dakar // SS5: Bad luck continues for X-raid

Al-Rajhi lands in the Pacific
Przygonski now eighth in the overall standings

Stage five took the competitors to Arequipa, the last stop in Peru before the entire Dakar train will leave the country and cross the border to Bolivia. The stage once again featured sand and dunes and represented a massive challenge for the drivers. In the end, Orlando Terranova and Bernardo ‘Ronnie’ Graue (both ARG) finished sixth with their MINI John Cooper Works Rally. The two MINI JCW Rally pairings Jakub ‘Kuba’ Przygonski (POL) / Tom Colsoul (BEL) and Boris Garafulic (CHI) / Filipe Palmeiro (POR) came eighth and 10th respectively.

After the bad luck they had to cope with yesterday, Terranova and Graue used today’s stage for working their way up in fine style. They were the 20th pairing to start into the stage and finished sixth. In the overall standings they now hold 12th place. Like many others, Przygonski, Garafulic and Mikko Hirvonen got stuck in the Tanaca dunes. But while the Pole and the Chilean succeeded in getting their cars going again quickly, the Finn needed more than an hour before he could rejoin the action.

Yazeed Al-Rajhi (KSA) and Timo Gottschalk (GER) were racing at an impressive pace in the early stages and won the first part of the special stage. But short before the end of the special stage they drove along the ocean when a high wave hit them and dragged them into the Pacific. Garafulic and Palmeiro could pull the buggy out of the water, then Mikko Hirvonen (FIN) and Andreas Schulz (GER) towed the buggy to the finish and in the end it was towed to the bivouac by an X-raid service truck. “There were two tracks in the sand, unfortunately we opted for using the wrong one,” the Saudi revealed

But there also is good news. In the third stage, the two X-raid crews Al-Rajhi / Gottschalk and Garafulic / Palmeiro collided on the peak of a dune. While they tried to repair their vehicles and waited for the Race Truck, two other bad accidents happened nearby. The two pairings came running to help at once. Therefore, the race control decided to release an hour of the time penalty for both squads. This means that Garafulic didn’t exceed the allowed maximum time and his three-hour penalty consequently was invalid.

More good news: Nani Roma could leave the hospital in Lima and is on the way home.

Tomorrow, the Dakar train will travel to Bolivia’s capital La Paz. The competitors will cross the border during the 313-kilometre special stage. Now, the sand and the dunes will be replaced by mountainous and fast sections. Altogether, the squads will have to cover 760 kilometres. And on the day after tomorrow, La Paz, some 3500 metres above sea level, also will be the venue of the rest day.