– Russia’s Vasilyev slips to third place; Prokop consolidates fourth overall
– Qatar’s Adel Abdulla fastest on stage in T2; Frenchman Garrouste wins T3 stage
Poland’s FIA World Cup leader Jakub Przygonski reduced MINI team-mate Yazeed Al-Rajhi’s overall lead in Rally Kazakhstan to four minutes with the fastest time on the third selective section through the western deserts on Wednesday.
Driving an X-raid MINI John Cooper Works Rally alongside Belgian navigator Tom Colsoul, the winner of April’s Qatar Cross-Country Rally posted a time of 3hrs 24min 35sec for the varied 327.47km stage and the former enduro rider will now open the road on day four.
With Al-Rajhi dropping 5min 03sec to the stage winner, Przygonski’s closest championship rival Martin Prokop (Ford F-150 Evo) carded the second quickest time – 48 seconds behind the Pole – to consolidate fourth in the overall rankings.
Al-Rajhi’s co-driver Timo Gottschalk said: « Today was a beautiful stage with really nice landscape. We did not push so much today. We are still leading the race and everything is going to plan. »
Prokop added: “The stage was very different and a little more difficult than the two before. We did no mistakes. That was nice for us and we tried to keep a good rhythm. The navigation was good and the car was behaving well. There were a lot of drops and holes in the road. The last part, there were a few cars together and it was very dusty. The camel grass here is terrible to pass. But it was good to warm up in the dunes at the start.