Agencies
Qatar’s Nasser Saleh al-Attiyah and his French co-driver Mathieu Baumel set the fastest time of the third stage to extend their lead in the overall standings in Rally Kazakshtan yesterday.
The third stage of the third round of the FIA World Cup for Cross Country Rallies saw the participants go through dunes and rocky roads, into a picturesque rocky valley, where a high-speed section was waiting for them along the Ustyurt plateau.
Al-Attiyah and Baumel pulled 12 minutes clear of Dutchman Bernhard Ten Brinke and Poland’s Jakub Przygonski after the 327km stage.
“We started this interesting day with sand dunes,” al-Attiyah said after the stage. “It was very important for us to win today in order to increase the gap over the other drivers. It was not so simple, but I am happy. I didn’t drive too much, because this stage is more technical and demanded a lot of navigation.”
Ten Brinke, who became the first ever Dutchman to win a Dakar special stage in an off-road vehicle, continued to impress, rising to second overall from fourth.
“We had a tyre puncture, we changed the wheel. After that, we safely drove the rest of the special stage and finished. I am pleased with the result, but there are still three days of races ahead,” he said.
Frenchman Stephane Peterhansel and his wife and co-driver, Andrea, finished fourth yesterday, 11 minutes and 21 seconds behind the race leader.
Last year’s winner in the event, Saudi Arabia’s Yazeed al-Rajhi had a troubled day, having flipped his car at high speed. The passing crew of Czech pilot Miroslav Zapletal helped al-Rajhi to turn the car back on to the wheels. It meant that al-Rajhi dropped to seventh place in the overall standings.
In the T2 class, Mohamed al-Meer picked up a stage victory, while in the T3 category, Fyodor Vorobyev’s crew won the race. Brazilian driver Reinaldo Varela finished second, but continues to top the overall standings in the category.
The fourth day of the rally will begin at Kenderli, and will go around the city of Zhanaozen and finish near Aktau. The length of the selective section will be 399 kilometres.