„Dakar“ shows its teeth: Time lost for Three-O-One on Day 3
Nazca, 07 January 2013
„Expect the unexpected“ goes the old Dakar adage. On the third competitive day, Giniel de Villiers and Dirk von Zitzewitz received a taster of just how true those words can ring – falling back to sixth place in their Toyota Hilux after losing 28 minutes.
Between Kilometres 60 and 62 of the challenging third leg, the South African and his German co-driver failed to follow the correct road, resulting in an unnecessary 15-kilometre detour through dunes before they regained the correct route and obligatory checkpoint.
De Villiers/von Zitzewitz had confidently started the third Dakar day in third place – after opponents and former team-mates Carlos Sainz/Timo Gottschalk have been deducted from the time they lost while looking for a waypoint with a malfunctioning GPS device yesterday, which in turn catapulted them past „Ginny“ and „Schnietz“ and into the lead. The 2009 winners were within striking distance of the lead when the navigation error cost them valuable time.
Thus, after Day 3, the rank outsider duo of de Villiers/von Zitzewitz lies 30.22 minutes adrift of overall leaders and the odds-on „Dakar“ favourites Stéphane Peterhansel/Jean-Paul Cottret in the X-raid-Mini.
Sand, sand and more sand – the third „Dakar“ day threw everything at the competitors. The first third of the stage between Pisco and Nazca consisted mainly of small, nasty dunes in rapid succession. The crews who managed to make it through – unlike some top teams in 2012 – were able to take a short breather after Kilometre 74. Although stress levels sank slightly thereafter, the remaining 169-stage kilometres still demanded maximum concentration, particularly as the sandy route took in altitudes of over 1,000 metres.
The Quotes
„A disappointing day for us. In the dunes we have overlooked an official which pointed to the right direction, and instead followed in the tracks of motorcycles who had also wrong-routed. Thus we travelled a needless 15 kilometres through the dunes. A pity, as that was our only mistake today. But: tomorrow is a new day. Now we need to remain error-free in order to stay in the leading group.“
Giniel de Villiers after Stage 03
„A bad day after the Dakar Rally had started so well for us. Between Kilometres 60 and 62 we lost time looking for the road, which cost us 20 minutes. Thereafter the day was up to expectations. The Dakar has just started and this stage was particularly tough, but the day’s result is still a disappointment for us, particularly as it was clearly a navigation error incurred by myself. That is naturally frustrating.“
Dirk von Zitzewitz after Stage 03
Result: Dakar Rally overall classification after leg 03
- 01. Stéphane Peterhansel/Jean-Paul Cottret (F/F), Mini, 5:34.26 Std.
- 02. Nasser Al-Attiyah/Lucas Cruz (Q/E), Buggy, 5:40.59 Std.
- 03. Lucio Alvarez/Bernardo Graue (RA/RA), Toyota, 5:52.37 Std.
- 04. Leonid Novitzkiy/Konstantin Zhiltsov (RUS/RUS), Mini, 5:55.36 Std.
- 05. Carlos Sainz/Timo Gottschalk (E/D), Buggy, 5:55.42 Std.
- 06. Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz (ZA/D), Toyota, 6:04.48 Std.
- 07. Joan „Nani“ Roma/Michel Périn (E/F), Mini, 6:07.22 Std.
- 08. Orlando Terranova/Paulo Fiuza (RA/P), BMW, 6:09.39 Std.
- 09. Robby Gordon/Kellon Walch (USA/USA), Hummer, 6:21.13 Std.
Coming up: Preview Stage 04
Nazca–Arequipa (Stage: 288 km, Open section: 429 km)
Non-stop soft dune sand: The fourth day of the Dakar again features sand and dunes in quasi- African style. Tuesday sees the competitors tackle arguably the toughest test of the Dakar’s opening week. „The first two- thirds of the stage will be similar to that of 2012, and thus extremely difficult,“ believes Giniel de Villiers. Says Dirk von Zitzewitz: „The end of the stage is new as we now follow a ribbon through the mountains. However, the focus will be the unpredictable dunes. After the start we face about 40 kilometres of camel grass which should shake us to the core, then we head into the dunes.“
„Dakar“ on TV
Montag, 07. Januar 2013
23:00 Uhr Eurosport Rallye Dakar 2013, 03. Etappe, Aufzeichnung vom Tage
Dienstag, 08. Januar 2013
01:00 Uhr Eurosport Rallye Dakar 2013, 03. Etappe, Aufzeichnung vom Tage (Wiederholung) 08:30 Uhr Eurosport Rallye Dakar 2013, 03. Etappe, Aufzeichnung vom Tage (Wiederholung) 17:15 Uhr Eurosport2 Rallye Dakar 2013, 04. Etappe, Interviews aus dem Ziel-Biwak (live) 23:15 Uhr Eurosport Rallye Dakar 2013, 04. Etappe, Aufzeichnung vom Tage
Mittwoch, 09. Januar 2013
01:00 Uhr Eurosport Rallye Dakar 2013, 04. Etappe, Aufzeichnung vom Tage (Wiederholung) 08:45 Uhr Eurosport Rallye Dakar 2013, 04. Etappe, Aufzeichnung vom Tage (Wiederholung) 23:35 Uhr Eurosport Rallye Dakar 2013, 05. Etappe, Aufzeichnung vom Tage
Dakar Newsletter
Abonnieren Sie jetzt unseren Dakar Newsletter und verfolgen Sie Dirk von Zitzewitz und sein Team bei der Dakar 2013.
[ALO-EASYMAIL-PAGE]