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Impressive record after the first part of the 2015 Dakar Rally: MINI ALL4 Racing wins seven of eight stages // Nasser Al-Attiyah continues to lead the way // Five stages remaining before finish in Buenos Aires.
Tue Jan 13 15:36:02 CET 2015 Press Release
MINI continues to lead the way as the competitors enter the second part of the 2015 Dakar Rally. With eight stages down, Nasser Al-Attiyah/Mathieu Baumel (QT/FR), who have been in front since leg two, lead De Villiers/Von Zitzewitz by 8:27 minutes. The rest day in Iquique (CL) presented the drivers and teams with the opportunity to take a quick breather before tackling the second half of Dakar.
Press Release.
12 January 2015.
Impressive record after the first part of the 2015 Dakar
Rally: MINI ALL4 Racing wins seven of eight stages // Nasser
Al-Attiyah continues to lead the way // Five stages remaining before
finish in Buenos Aires.
Munich (DE). MINI continues to lead the way as the competitors enter
the second part of the 2015 Dakar Rally. With eight stages down,
Nasser Al-Attiyah/Mathieu Baumel (QT/FR), who have been in front since
leg two, lead De Villiers/Von Zitzewitz by 8:27 minutes. The rest day
in Iquique (CL) presented the drivers and teams with the opportunity
to take a quick breather before tackling the second half of Dakar.
While 61 out of the 137 cars started have already retired, all ten
MINI ALL4 Racing cars are still in the race at the toughest challenge
in motorsports.
It has been an impressive opening week for MINI: the MINI ALL4
Racing won seven of the eight stages as the rally would its way from
Buenos Aires (AR), through Chilecito (AR) and Copiapo (CL), into the
Andes and on to Uyuni (BO). Al-Attiyah/Baumel were the fastest pairing
on three days, Orlando Terranova/Bernardo Graue (AR/AR) also won three
stages, and Vladimir Vasilyev/Konstantin Zhiltsov (RU/RU) chipped in
with one stage win.
Krzysztof Holowczyc/Xavier Panseri (PL/FR) and Erik van
Loon/Wouter Rosegaar (NL/NL) are currently in a strong fourth and
sixth position overall and have been showing a very strong pace
throughout the event so far.
Joan “Nani” Roma/Michel Périn (ES/FR), the reigning Dakar champions, had technical problems on the first day of the Dakar falling way behind. However, they were able to recover and have also shown a great performance since then posting two stage podiums finishes and five top ten positions.
Terranova/Graue were the overall leaders after day one battling
for position with Al-Attiyah/Baumel. However, they lost plenty of time
after hitting a rock on stage four. Fortunately they were able to
carry on, and win 2 more stages.
The MINI ALL4 Racing, based on the MINI Countryman John Cooper
Works, once again showed at the Dakar what an outstanding all-round
vehicle it is. Competitors at the Dakar are faced with numerous
challenges in a diverse range of terrains. These included navigating
their way through high dunes, consisting of fine desert sand (the
so-called “Fesh Fesh”), in temperatures of up to 50 degrees. Demanding
gravel roads through areas with no clear route markings not only put
the drivers and cars to the test, but also ensured that the co-drivers
also had to be on the top of their game.
Then there was the extremely thin air at high altitude in the
Andes. A number of the opening week’s stages reached altitudes of up
to 4,000 metres above sea level. A challenge for the engine and driver
alike. “You had a thumping headache, particularly when driving over
moguls,” said overall leader Al-Attiyah. “That was really energy-sapping.”
A further four MINI ALL4 Racings are currently well placed, just
outside the top ten. Boris Garafulic/Filipe Palmeiro (CL/PT) are
eleventh overall, with Vasilyev/Zhiltsov just behind them in twelfth
place. Aidyn Rakhimbayev/Anton Nikolaev (KZ/RU) and Zhou Yong/Andreas
Schulz (CN/DE) follow in 13th and 14th.
The drivers set off on their next adventure at the 2015 Dakar
Rally on Tuesday. From Iquique (CL) on the Pacific coast, the route
takes them south and inland towards Calama (CL). The 451-kilometre
stage sees the drivers return to the extremely dry Atacama Desert and
the high dunes they did battle with during the first week of the
rally. They then hit the heights again towards the end of the stage:
gravel roads take the cars back to a height of about 3,500 metres
above sea level.
Overall classification
after leg 8 (Top 6).
01 Al-Attiyah/Baumel - MINI ALL4 Racing - 26:41:15h
02 De
Villiers/Von Zitzewitz - 26:49:42h
03 Al Rajhi/Gottschalk -
26:59:55h
04 Holowczyc/Panseri – MINI ALL4 Racing - 27:35:53h
05 Ten Brinke/Colsoul – 28:04:07h
06 Van Loon/Rosegaar – MINI
ALL4 Racing - 28:07:06h
Coming up.
Day 10 (13 January 2015).
Start/finish: Iquique/Calama (Leg 9)
Total distance: 539 km, Special stage: 451 km, Liaison: 88 km
MINI ALL4 Racing 2015 Dakar Rally Lineup.
Monster Energy Rally Raid Team.
#300 Nani Roma/Michel Périn (ES/FR)
#305 Orlando Terranova/Bernardo „Ronnie“ Graue (AR/AR)
#306 Krzysztof Holowczyc/Xavier Panseri (PL/FR)
X-raid Team.
#310 Vladimir Vasilyev/Konstantin Zhiltsov (RU/RU)
#314 Erik van Loon/Wouter Rosegaar (NL/NL)
#319 Boris Garafulic/Filipe Palmeiro (CL/PT)
#329 Aidyn Rakhimbayev/Anton Nikolaev (KZ/RU)
#332 Zhou
Yong/Andreas Schulz (CN/DE)
#334 Stephan Schott/Holm Schmidt (DE/DE)
Qatar Rally Team.
#301 Nasser Al-Attiyah/Mathieu Baumel (QT/FR)
Find more photos and videos in high resolution of the Dakar participants in the MINI ALL4 Racing on the BMW Media Website by clicking here.
Media contact.
BMW Sports Communications
Danilo Coglianese
Telephone:
+49-176-601-72405
E-mail:
danilo.coglianese@bmwgroup.com
Media website:
www.press.bmwgroup-sport.com
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