- Luis Costa
- Rally Raid
As it was announced in the drivers’ briefing, the 6th stage reserved big challenges regarding navigation and a great variety of landscapes with the route featuring a mix of sand dunes, roads and off-roads.
Once again a full concentration on the road book, as well as an extra attention to save the vehicles were a must.
The competitors took the start of one of the longest stage of the rally (modified to 264 kms for a total of 666 kms) determined to give everything before tomorrow’s final sprint. The stage was very demanding and shuffled the cards with the favourites out of the game.
Unfortunately the leading group, who were fighting for the win, struggled the most. The track opener #103 Han Wei (Geely Auto Cooper Tires SMG Buggy), winner of the 5th stage, was one of the firsts to experience mechanical problems at km 121.
Started second, also the leader of the general standing #111 Giniel De Villiers (Toyota Gazoo Racing) broke the suspensions on a big rock hidden in the sand at km 125.
Started third, #123 Tao Yong Ming (Nissan VK50) did finish the stage, but outside the maximum allowed time, suffering more than expected. The same happened to #117 Zi Yungang from Shanxi Yunxiang Team, who lost the chance to defend his second position in the general. Also the talented Inner Mongolian #121 Aorigele, winner of 3 stages, had a mechanical issue at km 97.
“It’s really a pity”, said Giniel De Villiers, who was defending the leadership, “it’s the first time that I brake the suspensions in a race since 2002. Anyway tomorrow i will re-join the race for the spectacular final sprint”.
The first to finish the stage was #115 Zhang Ming (SMG Hanwei Team) in 4h03min11s, second was #130 Ma Hailong (Nissan VQ40), 9min18sec behind, with #125 Zhang Xuegang (Toyota Tacoma 1GR) in third.
“After my 40 min penalty on day 1, I expected only a top ten result. You should never give up to the last moment”, said surprised Zhang Ming.
With today’s result, #130 Ma is leading the overall classification with only 1min 44sec of advantage on #115 Zhang. Tomorrow the battle for the win will be among them as #109 Chen Feng is third, but +2h22m50sec behind. The stakes are high as the winner of the Dakar Series China rally will also gain a free entry to Dakar 2018.
T2 Group
It was a demanding stage also for the T2 cars. #209 Zhang Jianfeng (Jiangxi Isuzu) set the best time, finishing 1st in his category, 13th overall, in front of #202 Wuritunasheng (Zhengzhou Nissan) 16th overall and #207 Zuo Xiaobong (Jiangxi Isuzu), 3rd. 22nd overall today, #205 He Xudong (Jiangxi Isuzu) maintains the leadership of the T2 class.
T3 group
#212 Zhang Huijun ( Yamaha YZF1000) finished third overall and first of his class. Second was #320 Zhang Qiang (Xingjunyi China Gold E-business) 8th today, with #317 Guan Quanquan (Changbaishan Stock Pioneer) in 3rd position an 9th overall. #320 Zhang now leads the overall of the T3 class.
Open group
The Liqui Moly driver #305 Xu Aili made another superb performance, finishing 1st of the Open Class, 11th overall and leads the general standing of the Open class. Second and 12th overall #303 Li Jinming (Liqui Moly). #135 Li Jianguo (Beidaihe Brother Racing Club) continues his race with consistency and finished 3rd as yesterday.
In racing everything can happen till the last meter. Yesterday’s epic and tough stage saw all the favourites out of the games as they damaged their vehicles on the road.
Today the spotlights were all for the new protagonists: #130 Ma Hailong (Nissan VQ40), who was leading the overall classification, and #115 Zhang Ming (SMG Hanwei Team), second at + 1min 44sec.
The spectacular short but tough final stage took place in the dunes around the FB-Park with the competitors who took the start in reverse order of their standing position.
115 Zhang Ming (SMG Hanwei Team) won the stage in front of #130 Ma Hailong (Nissan VQ40) and #103 Han Wei (SMG Buggy), first of the FIA Classification, but his advantage of only 9 seconds was not enough to gain the first position of the general.
With today’s result #130 Ma Hailong and his co-driver Yao Bin won the first edition of the Dakar Series China Rally and a free entry to compete in the 2018 Dakar. Second of the general standing #115 Zhang Ming, third #109 Cheng Feng on a Toyota Hilux, first of the FIA Classification.
“I’m really happy” said the rally winner Ma Hailong, “I didn’t expect to win the race with my small team. I was really lucky that the top drivers had some issues yesterday. I’m sorry for them. Regarding my free entry for Dakar, I still haven’t realized such a great opportunity”.
After he broke the suspension of his Hilux yesterday, the Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa driver Giniel De Villiers and his co-driver Dirk von Zitzewitz re-joined the race for the final sprint on the dunes and finished 18th in the general standing with 12h30min penalty.
“It was really pity for yesterday’s impact as we were fighting for the win. I was climbing a series of small dunes when I landed on a rock. We broke the front suspension and the steering.
We tried to fix it in the dunes, moving away the wheel from the bodywork and then we drove to the tarmac, steering with 4 hands as it was so hard to steer. Despite this incident, it was really worth to come and race the Dakar Series China Rally. The route in the Inner Mongolia were spectacular and the perfect playground to train on the sand in preparation of the Dakar”, said De Villiers,
“here we can find all kind of dunes, from small dunes to mountains, round or steep It’s tougher than anything I have ever done before!”
T3 Group (Side by Side)
Today’s stage was won by #313 Zhong Lei in front of #317 Guan Quanquan and #315 Li Dongsheng all on Polaris RZR1000, but the winner of the general standing is #320 Zhang Qiang (Xingjunyi China Gold E-business)- Second of the overall #212 Zhang Huijun (Yamaha YZF1000), with #317 Guan Quanquan (Changbaishan Stock Pioneer) in third position.
T2 Group
The leader #205 He Xudong (Jiangxi Isuzu) finished 3rd in the stage and won the rally in his category in front of stage 7 winner #209 Zhang Jianfeng (Jiangxi Isuzu) with #202 Wuritunasheng (Zhengzhou Nissan) in third position overall and second in the stage.
Open Class
The Liqui Moly driver #305 Xu Aili made another superb performance, finishing first of his category in the stage and first of the overall, winning the rally in his category. The second of the overall is #135 Li Jianguo (Beidaihe Brother Racing Club). Third of the general #303 Li Jinming (Liqui Moly) who finshed second in the stage ahead of #308 Fan Tingjun.
“We are really happy”, said Zhao Wei Vice President of FBLIFE and Senior Project Manager of the rally, “the idea of the Dakar Series China Rally is to offer the Chinese drivers the experience of an international rally and to prepare them to compete on the Dakar. I think we accomplished the target with this first edition.
104 competitors of 9 nationalities took the start and we saw great battles among the Inner Mongolian experienced driver Aorigele, the Dakar star Giniel De Villiers, Han Wei , Zi Yungang, Yong Zhou, 13th on the 2015 Dakar, just to mention a few names.
This is the start of a new great adventure for the drivers, as well as FBLIFE benefiting from the knowledge and expertise of Amaury Sport Organisation (A.S.O.)”
Also Tiziano Siviero, the Sporting Director of the event, expressed his satisfaction: “We are really satisfied of how the rally went. We had a great collaboration with FBLIFE and the local people and everything ran smooth during the whole scouting of the tracks and the race. I want to thank the whole staff for the great partnership”.
The Dakar Series China Rally finished just one day before the opening of the FB-Festival.
This 12th edition, is dedicated to the FB-Life community that counts around 10 millions members and all fans of off-road and adventure travel.
Already from preparing the road book, drivers and co-drivers had the clear idea that it was going to be another tough day.
The original 317 kms of special stage for a total of 375 kms was reduced to 255kms of stage, but still very demanding with massive dunes crossings. The second loop around the Alxa Right bivouac brought the competitors in the Badain Jaran Desert for another full immersion in the dunes before tackling a faster part with many roads damaged by the rain.
Recovering leading position, #111 Giniel De Villiers (Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa) started with one goal in mind: accurate driving and no navigation mistakes.
Mission accomplished as he finished second, only 25 seconds behind #103 the Chinese Han Wei (Geely Auto Cooper Tires SMG Buggy), who made a superb performance and set the fastest time (4h 7min 02 sec) and was the first of the FIA classification. Third at +9m 06sec #123 Tao Yong Ming on a Nissan VK50.
The Chinese #121 Aorigele, winner of 3 stages wanted to attack but he got stuck in his Nissan pickup and dropped a lot of time. He finally finished 4th at +9min 10sec.
With today’s result De Villiers and his co-driver Dirk Von Zitzewitz jump on top of the general standing. They lead with 1min 41sec of advantage on #117 Zi Yungang from Shanxi Yunxiang Team, and +13min 50 sec on #103 Han Wei. The local hero Aorigele is now 4th, but quite behind (15m 17sec). #109 Chen Feng closes the top 5.
“Yesterday our gearbox was broken so we wasted time” said stage winner Han Wei, “we changed it because there were 2 long stages left. We pushed hard today to take the win and have a good result, if not we have no other chances, so we decided to catch up as much as we can”.
“We took the star this morning determined to close the gap and I’m happy that we made it, although it would have been nice to win the stage. It was a very demanding day because there were many dunes crossings which are so challenging for the body and also tricky in terms of navigation. With Dirk, my co-driver, we did a good job. It was important to recover position today with only one long stage remaining”, said De Villiers.
T2 Group
These stages are particularly tough on the T2 class, the production vehicles really take abuse in the dunes and the Isuzu of Zhang Jianfeng get major technical problems. #205 He Xudong (Jiangxi Isuzu) was the fastest of his category today and leader of the general standing. He finished ahead of 201 Song Haitao (Zhengzhou Nissan rich pickup). Third was #208 Shi Hong (Jiangxi Isuzu).
T3 Group
#317 Guan Quanquan (Changbaishan Stock Pioneer) was the 1st of the open class and 12th overall with a crono of 05:26:44. Second #318 Zhang Hongbin (Changbaishan Stock Pioneer) and #320 Zhang Qiang (Xingjunyi China Gold E-business), respectively 18th and 19th overall. #320 Zhang now leads the provisional overall standing after a great day for 212 taking 30 minutes out of his brother brother Qiang.
Open class
The Liqui Moly driver #305 Xu Aili made a superb performance, finishing 1st of the Open Class and 10th overall. Second #308 Fan Tingjun from Xiangyang Modern City Team, 14th overall. Third #135 Li Jianguo ( Beidaihe Brother Racing Club), 20th overall.
It was a pity for Su Baoheng (Chewukuangsha Buggy), the only Open vehicle without any penalties so far. Unfortunately an issue with the rear axle made him lose a lot of time and the top position. The new leader of the provisional overall standing is now Li Jianguo.
Tomorrow the competitors will tackle the 6th stage that will bring them to the FB-Festival bivoauc in Alxa left. They will cover 669 km in total, 328 km of special stage. The stage will be crucial to make time difference and recover position before the final sprint of 28 Km in front of the spectators of the famous FB-Festival.