ETAPE 13 – INTERVIEWS
22.07.2016
“Another real special-stage”
Stéphane Peterhansel (Driver, Peugeot DKR2008 n100) :
“It was another fantastic and proper rally-raid special-stage today! As we planned we stayed behind Cyril to protect him. We made a small navigation mistake and thankfully the lake at the bottom of the dune was dry, we had nothing to be worried about. More than five hours in the car today. The stages are stinging together and we are beginning to feel the effects of fatigue.”
“To see behind the dunes”
Cyril Despres (Driver, Peugeot DKR2008 n°104) :
“It wasn’t easy to be the first car in the stage today with all the tracks from yesterday. The problem with the dunes is you can’t see what is behind them. Once you’re on the summit, you can lose control of the car and there is nothing you can do until you reach the bottom, which could cost you several minutes. This happened to us today. Fortunately, the lake was dry and we were able to pass through the thin vegetation. Today, I drove at my usual pace to avoid losing concentration. As the leader, the last kilometres of a race are not the easiest. As we get closer to the finish the tension climbs progressively.”
“Waiting position”
Yazeed Al Rajhi (Driver, MINI ALL4 Racing n°103) :
“It was a very nice special-stage today, a little faster than yesterday. But like all the special-stages since we’ve been in China, it was favoured the buggies today. We drive calmly and took fewer risks to conserve our second place in the general classification. There are 260km to go and we will see how it all goes tomorrow!”
“We have our second wind.”
Vladmir Vasiliev (driver N°101 MINI ALL4 Racing):
“There were many dunes today and a lot of sand. The Dunes were not so high, but really difficult at the end of the special. It was hard for our car to climb. We still have some energy. After the first half of the race, it has becomes easier. We have our second wind.”
“Be faster than Van Den Brink”
Airat Mardeev (Driver N°306 Kamaz):
“There were a lot off-road tracks today with some interesting sand and, as the organizers told us, the last 10 kms were very difficult. The small dunes were: viscous. If you lingered a little, you struggled and get stuck. We won the stage, driving at our pace and we didn't see anyone except for a couple of cars. We started behind Nikolaev, but then got a little behind when we had to overtake those cars. But the main thing for us is to be faster than Van Den Brink.”
“A real marathon”
Edouard Nikolaev (Driver N°310 Kamaz):
“We started first and didn't see anyone until the finish. It was a very interesting stage and it is great to get our second consecutive win. Yesterday and today’s stages were very cool. We hope that tomorrow will be more of the same - a real marathon. We still need some time to get used to the new truck, so we have to take some risks.”
“Electrical problems”
Martin Van Den Brink (Driver, Renault ‘Sherpa’ K520 n°301) :
“We got off to a really good start to the special-stage, but soon after we had some electrical problems. We had to stay behind several times to wait and re-start the engine. In these conditions it is not at all easy to maintain the pace. Tomorrow we will take it easy to assure our place on the overall podium.”
