The Toyota Hilux Overdrive crew of Nasser Al Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel have maintained their Rally Kazakhstan lead after the fourth of six legs.

The duo measuring their pace over the second longest section of the event. The battle for second position continues to be fierce and today Jakub Przygonski and Timo Gottschalk retook the advantage, the MINI crew moving back into second ahead of Bernhard Ten Brinke and Tom Colsoul.

Today’s 399.24 kilometre section provided yet another mix of conditions, overnight rain adding to the challenge as the crews once again powered over dunes, camel grass, fast muddy tracks and standing water. With nearly 12 minutes in hand this morning, Al Attiyah could afford to be tactical, the Qatari eyeing a second Rally Kazakhstan win and another 2019 victory in the FIA World Cup for Cross Country Rallies.

“It was a long stage and we didn’t take risks, it wasn’t necessary to push,” said Al Attiyah, who was fifth fastest through the section. “We will have a better road position for tomorrow and can hopefully retake another two or three minutes if possible; we’re just keeping an eye on ‘Kuba’ [Przygonski] and Ten Brinke.”

Przygonski was third fastest, ahead of rival Ten Brinke, to move back up the standings to second overall with exactly one minute separating the two crews. “It was a long but really nice stage, perhaps one of the nicest,” said the Polish reigning World Cup champion.

“After the overnight rain the handling [of the car] was very good, the dunes were wet and there were lots of jumps; I really enjoyed this stage and we achieved our target of taking Ten Brinke.”

Ten Brinke slipped from second to third in the overall standings, dropping one minute and 27 seconds to Przygonski but the battle remains intense as the crews fight for precious seconds. “It was a good day,” said the Dutchman who finished the section fourth. “We started second on the road and caught Nasser 100 kilometres into the stage. We were the first car into the dunes but then he passed us again before we retook the lead and ran together. It was good for Tom [co-driver] and me and we’re in a good position to fight for second.”

The husband and wife duo of Stéphane and Andrea Peterhansel also had a good day, the John Cooper Works Buggy crew second fastest to Al Rajhi. “It was a really nice stage and different types of tracks again,” said Stéphane. “There were two sections of dunes and they were easy to cross because the rain made the sand harder. It’s beautiful, but having not done the event before it is different to what I know of cross country; the landscape is very different and the tracks very fast, but it has been nice to drive.”

Miroslav Zapletal and Marek Sykora hold a fine fifth, the leading privateers behind some of the world’s top cross country crews. They are nearly six minutes ahead of the Russian team of Denis Krotov and Dmytro Tsyro, the MINI crew with a significant advantage over Kazakhstan’s Andrey Cherednikov/Ignat Falkov who hold seventh.

Reinaldo Varela and Gustavo Gugelmin have moved up the leaderboard from 10th to eighth and the Brazilians continue to lead the T3 category ahead of their Can Am Maverick rivals Fedor Vorobyev and Kirill Shubin. They are ninth overall and won today’s stage.

Yazeed Al Rajhi and Dirk Von Zitzewitz claimed their first stage win of the event by three minutes, powering their Toyota Hilux Overdrive through the section in 3 hours 43 minutes and 53 seconds.

“We had a good day. I didn’t push at the start and was focused on driving well but we pushed more in the last 150 kilometres,” said the Saudi driver who amassed over four hours of penalties last night for breaching service and route regulations. Consequently, he dropped from a provisional seventh to 10th overall today.

Mohammed Al Meer and Alexey Kuzmich continue to lead the T2 category ahead of the penultimate leg of Rally Kazakhstan which takes the crews north from the Aktau bivouac for a 290.19 kilometre section.

Rally Kazakhstan – Provisional results after Leg 4 (18:00 hrs local)

Nasser Al Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel powered into the lead of Rally Kazakhstan after today’s second selective section.

The Toyota Hilux Overdrive crew taking the stage win and a four minute 32 second advantage. Jakub Przygonski and Timo Gottschalk have moved one place up the leaderboard with Yazeed Al Rajhi and Dirk Von Zitzewitz dropping from the overnight lead to third.

Rally Kazakhstan, the third round of the FIA World Cup for Cross Country Rallies, is the longest event in the series and today’s stage was also the longest of the six day rally. An epic 414.22 kilometre section lay in wait, taking the crews from the Kinderly bivouac over a mix of fast tracks and soft dunes at an average speed of more 100kph over nearly four hours of competition.

Al Attiyah, starting second on the road, powered through the section, catching overnight leader Al Rajhi after 150 kilometres before hitting the dunes. The Qatari finished the stage nearly two minutes ahead of his rivals to take the overall lead. “It was not easy navigation but I’m happy we have a good lead,” he said.

From third on the road, MINI driver Przygonski finished the section third and moved up the standings into second, despite a puncture woe.

“It was a long stage and five kilometres before the finish we had a puncture and finished on the wheel rim,” said the Polish reigning World Cup champion. “It was not so easy today; the tracks were difficult to drive, but we were quite good in the soft dunes and the navigation was okay.”

Al Rajhi started the day with less than a minute lead and, as a consequence, led the crews into the section in his Hilux Overdrive. It wasn’t an easy ride however and he was fifth fastest through the stage. “We had three flat tyres and drove the last 30 kilometres to the finish with one wheel on the rim,” said the Saudi driver, who ran close to Al Attiyah and Przygonski through the section.

Bernhard Ten Brinke and Tom Colsoul had a great run, second fastest to climb from fifth to fourth. “We had a good day but were running behind Vladimir Vasilyev and in his dust at the 80 kilometre mark,” said Ten Brinke.

“We were behind him for the next 60 kilometres but once we got past, the rest of the stage we were running alone. We did a good job today, and no punctures.”

After their problems yesterday, Stéphane and Andrea Peterhansel enjoyed a much better day, the pair fourth through the section to climb from eighth to fifth in their John Cooper Works Buggy.

“We had no problems today, but we stopped once because the car jack light came on suggesting there might be a problem, but there wasn’t,” said Stéphane.

“It was a fast stage and especially nice in the middle over the dunes and some beautiful white mountains; I have never seen anything like this before and it really was beautiful. The dunes were slow but overall it was a very quick stage averaging over 100kph.”

Russia’s Denis Krotov and Dmytro Tsyro remain sixth ahead of Miroslav Zapletal and Marek Sykora. Andrey Cherednikov and Ignat Falkov continue to fly the flag for their home country, the Kazakhs eighth in a Ford F-150 Evo.

Vladimir Vasilyev and Konstantin Zhiltsov had a disappointing day, the Russians losing over an hour when they were forced to stop and change some suspension parts 170 kilometres into the section.

They dropped from fourth to ninth in the international standings but have subsequently withdrawn for personal reasons. Reinaldo Varela and Gustavo Gugelmin round out the top 10 and head the T3 category in their Can Am Maverick. Mohammed Al Meer/Alexey Kuzmich top the T2 standings in a Toyota Landcruiser.

Another 327.47 kilometre section lays in wait for the third leg of Rally Kazakhstan tomorrow.

Rally Kazakhstan – Provisional results after Leg 2 (19:00 hrs local)

Nasser Al Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel continue to head the Rally Kazakhstan leaderboard, another stage win giving them an impressive 11 minute and 55 second advantage.

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The Toyota Hilux Overdrive crew of Yazeed Al Rajhi and Dirk Von Zitzewitz top the leaderboard after the opening selective section of Rally Kazakhstan.

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