Rally Raid

Sutherland and Martin win first Mauritanian stage at Africa ECO Race

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Aussie rider Matt Sutherland and French driver Patrick Martin won their respective motorcycle and car categories on the sixth stage of the 12th Africa Eco Race (Monaco-Dakar) between Arzmeila and Chami on the road to Nouakchott in Western Mauritania on Monday.

Sutherland headed out from a very early start to the day in eighth overall and retained that position with the fastest time, the KTM rider finishing the short special 1min 16sec in front of Giovanni Gritti’s Honda to become the first Australian to win a special stage at the Africa Eco Race.

Paulo Lucci reached the stage finish in third, but fellow Italian Alessandro Botturi maintained the overall lead over Norwegian Pal-Anders Ullesvalseter, despite seeing his advantage trimmed to 2min 05sec with the 20th fastest time.

Great Britain’s Lyndon Poskitt stayed in third overall, Polish veteran Jacek Czachor was fourth, while Lucci and Polish rookie Konrad Dabrowski rounded off the top six in the general standings.

Sweden’s Anders Berglund won the stage in the over-450cc section and extended his advantage over closest rival Ashish Raorane to nearly 30 minutes. Italy’s Gabriel Minelli and Senegal’s Mamadou Bocoum are third and fourth.

Patrick and Lucas Martin topped the car times in their T1 Tarek Mercedes, the French crew beating the Belgian Iveco trio of Igor Bouwens, Ulrich Boerboom and Frits Driesmans by 2min 29sec to reduce the truck team’s outright lead in the car and truck section to 6min 33sec.

The day’s route crossed the border into Mauritania. After a liaison of 383.36km that included the customs formalities between Dakhla and Arzmeila, the special - used only once before on the event - ran for 176.57km to finish at the bivouac in Chami. The route ran alongside the Banc d’Arguin National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Centre, that offered tricky dunes and demanding navigation.

It was a disapponting day for Yves and Jean Fromont in their Tarek Buggy, the French duo losing their place in the overall top 10 after leaving the stage with mechanical problems at a passage control. The Hungarian crew of Miklos Kovacs, Lazlo Acs and Peter Czegledi came home second in T4 and maintained third overall, well over two hours ahead of the fourth-placed T4 MAN of Noel Essers, Marc Lauwers and Tijs Vranken. That was despite suffering engine shutdown issues.

Bernard Touzery and Frédéric Ganache ran well in an Optimus Buggy to claim the sixth quickest time and second in T1 and Alexandre and Eric Coquide were sixth on the day in a Nissan. Jacky Leichleiter and Francis Lapp finished seventh in their brand new Mercedes Buggy running in the colours of Sunreef Yachts. 

Benoit Fretin and Cédric Duplé dropped over 20 minutes to the stage winners but maintained their advantage in the SSV section and seventh in the general rankings in a Can-Am. Loic Frebourg, Patrice Etienne and solo racer Geoffroy Noel de Burlin round off the top four amongst the SSVs, but Dutchman Sander Derikx is driving solo and claimed the stage win in his Can-Am.

Eighth-placed Alexey Titov and Dmitry Pavlov extended their advantage in the T2 category for series production cross-country vehicles over fellow Russians, Andrey Sushentshov and Igor Petenko.

The Bowler duo of Alex Cole and Emma Osman won the Open class special and moved in front of fellow Brits Andrew Wicklow and Simon Armstrong after their rivals incurred a 30-minute time penalty.

Tomorrow (Tuesday January 14th), the Africa Eco Race caravan heads from the Chami bivouac  to Aidzidine, a village located betweern Akjoujt and Atar. The off-piste stage runs for 477.95km and makes up the entire route of the day with camel grass, treacherous dune crossings and tricky navigation.

2020 AFRICA ECO RACE  – POSITIONS ON SS6:

BIKES

  1. Matt Sutherland (AUS) KTM                          1hr 46min 13sec
  2. Giovanni Gritti (ITA) Honda                             1hr 47min 29sec              
  3. Paulo Lucci (ITA) Husqvarna                                1hr 47min 52sec
  4. Pawel Stasiaczek (POL) KTM                         1hr 49min 24sec
  5. Konrad Dabrowski (POL) KTM                       1hr 50min 09sec
  6. Norbert Dubois (FRA) KTM                            1hr 51min 03sec

CARS/TRUCKS

  1. Patrick Martin (FRA)/Lucas Martin (FRA) Mercedes (T1) 1hr 32min 33sec
  2. Igor Bouwens, Ulrich Boerboom, Frits Driesmans (BEL) Iveco (T4)1hr 35min 02sec
  3. Miklos Kovacs, Lazlo Acs, Peter Czegledi (HUN) Skania (T4)1hr 40min 03sec
  4. Karoly Fazekas/Albert Horn/Peter Csakany (HUN) Skania (T4) 1hr 40min 35sec
  5. Bernard Touzery (FRA)/Frédéric Ganache (FRA) Optimus Buggy (T1)1hr 41min 50sec
  6. Alexandre Coquide (FRA)/Eric Coquide (FRA) Nissan (T1)1hr 42min 10sec

2020 AFRICA ECO RACE  – OVERALL POSITIONS AFTER SS6:

BIKES

  1. Alessandro Botturi (ITA) Yamaha                   21hr 39min 21sec
  2. Pal-Anders Ullesvalseter (NOR) KTM        21hr 41min 26sec
  3. Lyndon Poskitt (GBR) KTM                             22hr 00min 40sec
  4. Jacek Czachor (POL) KTM                                22hr 20min 40sec
  5. Paulo Lucci (ITA) Husqvarna                                                                                22hr 30min 29sec
  6. Konrad Dabrowski (POL) KTM                       23hr 00min 02sec, etc

CARS/TRUCKS

  1. Igor Bouwens, Ulrich Boerboom, Frits Driesmans (BEL) Iveco (T4)21hr 02min 14sec
  2. Patrick Martin (FRA)/Lucas Martin (FRA) Mercedes (T1) 21hr 08min 47sec
  3. Miklos Kovacs, Lazlo Acs Peter Czegledi (HUN) Skania (T4)21hr 18min 43sec
  4. Noel Essers/Marc Lauwers/Tijs Vranken (BEL) MAN (T4)23hr 47min 26sec
  5. Karoly Fazekas/Albert Horn/Peter Csakany (HUN) Skania (T4) 23hr 55min 52sec
  6. Tomas Tomacek (CZE) Tatra (T4)                   24hr 24min 53sec
  7. Benoit Fretin (FRA)/Cédric Duplé (FRA) Can-Am (SSV) 24hr 47min 57sec
  8. Alexey Titov (RUS)/Dmitry Pavlov (RUS) Ford Raptor (T2)24hr 54min 38sec, etc
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