The Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team have made a red hot start to their latest adventure. At the halfway point of Rally Andalucia the squad have picked up stage wins every single day of the race so far, including a 1-2-3 finish today!
Among the changes for the Junior Team at the start of this latest FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies season was the introduction of a new driver. 26-year-old Belgian ace Guillaume de Mevius has been enjoying an impressive debut drive in one of the four OT3 machines racing in Spain.
De Mevius and co-driver Tom Colsoul not only won the T3 class on the 8-kilometre prologue stage, but they finished just 11 seconds back from three-time Dakar winner Nasser Al-Attiyah’s Toyota Hilux.
The all-Belgian crew were back on top during the second special stage in southern Spain. The duo attacked all 279 kilometres of the stage to set the day’s fastest T3 time and the sixth fastest time overall. De Mevius now leads the T3 category overall.
« We have to stay concentrated. Today was a good day, but we also want tomorrow to be a good day as well. » – Guillaume de Mevius
Victory in the T3 class on the first timed special stage at Rally Andalucia went to Seth Quintero. The youngest ever stage winner in the history of the Dakar showed phenomenal speed during 177 kilometres against the clock.
Quintero finished stage one just five minutes behind T1 leader Al-Attiyah and in P6 overall. This could have been a week that ended with an overall T3 victory for Quintero and co-driver Dennis Zenz. However, those hopes vanished when gearbox trouble saw the 18-year-old American unable to start stage two.
« We haven’t had the best of luck at this race but hopefully we can turn that luck around on stages three and four. » – Seth Quintero
A P7 overall result for Cristina Gutiérrez on stage one, backed up by a T3 podium finish on stage two, has given the 29-year-old a great platform in her native Spain. The only female stage winner at the Dakar since the rally left Africa will be pushing for top spot this weekend alongside co-driver Francois Cazalet.
« We have to continue fighting tomorrow and the day after that. » – Cristina Gutiérrez
Mitch Guthrie Jr. still has it all to play for in Spain despite colliding with a rock, resulting in flat tyre and a broken A-arm, on stage one. The 24-year-old American was right back on pace on stage two where he and co-driver Ola Floene leapt from 7th to an overall podium spot in the T3 classification.
« We’re feeling good and tomorrow we have a great starting position for stage three. » – Mitch Guthrie Jr.
Still to come at Rally Andalucia is Saturday’s 315-kilometre timed special stage, the longest day of the entire race. The chequered flag comes down on Sunday following the fourth and final stage, measuring 285 kilometres.
Rally Andalucia T3 Race Top 3 on Stage Two
1. G. De Mevius (BEL)/T. Colsoul (BEL) OT3 03:25:23
2. M. Guthrie Jr. (USA)/O. Floene (NOR) OT3 +00:06:42
3. C. Gutiérrez (ESP)/F. Cazalet (FRA) OT3 +00:07:59…
Rally Andalucia T3 Race Top 3 Overall
1. G. De Mevius (BEL)/T. Colsoul (BEL) OT3 05:20:21
2. C. Gutiérrez (ESP)/F. Cazalet (FRA) OT3 +00:06:07
3. M. Guthrie Jr. (USA)/O. Floene (NOR) OT3 +00:15:13…