Second to seventh positions all secured by MINI ALL4 Racing pairings •
Vasilyev now second in the overall standings
In today’s ranking, the MINI ALL 4 Racing vehicles appeared as a pack by securing the positions two to seven! Second fastest behind Nasser Al-Attiyah were Vladimir Vasilyev and Konstantin Zhiltsov (both RUS). Mikko Hirvonen (FIN) and Michel Périn (FRA) came in third, followed by Bryce Menzies (USA) / Andreas Schulz (GER) and Yazeed Al Rajhi (SAU) / Timo Gottschalk (GER). The crews Sheik Khalid Al Qassimi (UAE) / Khalid Al Kendi (UAE) and Jakub Przygonski (POL) / Tom Colsoul (BEL) completed the very good team result. Meanwhile, the buggy of Jutta Kleinschmidt (GER) and Tina Thörner (SWE) finished 14th, today.
Vasilyev had no problems during today’s special stage and worked his way up to second position in the overall standings. This is a nice birthday present for his co-driver Zhiltsov. Hirvonen also had a trouble free day. “It was definitely warmer today,” the Finn said laughing in the bivouac. “But I still don’t know if this is good or bad for me.” Al-Rajhi got stuck in the first part of the special stage, “And afterwards, we probably were too careful,” admitted the Saudi. Al Qassimi und Przygonski struggled with minor problems in the dunes, thus losing some time while Kleinschmidt and Thörner got stuck twice and lost far more time. “We succeeded in improving the suspension massively, on the past days,” Kleinschmidt revealed. Stephan Schott and Holm Schmidt (both GER) are struggling with clutch problems and consequently have not yet completed the special stage.
Tomorrow, the penultimate stage is waiting for the competitors. Just like today, the pairings will have to complete a loop in the Liwa desert around the bivouac. The special stage mileage amounts to 258 kilometres
ADDC – Result SS3: 1. N. Al-Attiyah (QAT) / M. Baumel (FRA) – Toyota 3h 38m 05s 2. V. Vasilyev (RUS) / K. Zhiltsov (RUS) – MINI ALL4 Racing 3h 39m 54s 3. M. Hirvonen (FIN) / M. Périn (FRA) – MINI ALL4 Racing 3h 44m 19s 4. B. Menzies (USA) / A. Schulz (GER) – MINI ALL4 Racing 3h 44m 20s 5. Y. Al-Rajhi (SAU) / T. Gottschalk (GER) – MINI ALL4 Racing 3h 49m 57s 6. K. SH Al-Qassimi (UAE) / K. Al Kendi (UAE) – MINI ALL4 Racing 3h 53m 01s 7. J. Przygonski (POL) / T. Colsoul (BEL) – MINI ALL4 Racing 3h 53m 44s …
14. J. Kleinschmidt (GER) / T. Thörner (SWE) – Buggy 4h 47m 47s …
tba. S. Schott (GER) / H. Schmidt (GER) – MINI ALL4 Racing
ADDC – overall standings after stage 3:
1. N. Al-Attiyah (QAT) / M. Baumel (FRA) – Toyota 11h 02m 19s 2. V. Vasilyev (RUS) / K. Zhiltsov (RUS) – MINI ALL4 Racing 11h 17m 38s 3. Y. Al-Rajhi (SAU) / T. Gottschalk (GER) – MINI ALL4 Racing 11h 24m 32s 4. J. Przygonski (POL) / T. Colsoul (BEL) – MINI ALL4 Racing 11h 32m 47s 5. M. Hirvonen (FIN) / M. Périn (FRA) – MINI ALL4 Racing 11h 39m 07s 6. B. Menzies (USA) / A. Schulz (GER) – MINI ALL4 Racing 11h 40m 17s 7. K. SH Al-Qassimi (UAE) / K. Al Kendi (UAE) – MINI ALL4 Racing 11h 54m 55m …
13. J. Kleinschmidt (GER) / T. Thörner (SWE) – Buggy 13h 59m 57s …
tba. S. Schott (GER) / H. Schmidt (GER) – MINI ALL4 Racing
