After the cancellation of the marathon stage for the vehicles, originally scheduled for the third day, today’s stage was partially re-disegned with the arrival of all the vehicles at the bivouac of Al Qaisumah where the competitors could join their assistance teams.
It was another long day with 339 kms of timed section in the middle of two long liaison of around 200 km each.
For the CST Polaris Xtremeplus it was a good day for the Italian duo Michele Cinotto and Maurizio Dominella, P12th at the end of the stage and a superb P 9 in the overall. « It’s only the second stage », states Michele Cinotto, « This is only my 7th Dakar. I know that this is only the start and that the race is still long ». Today the caravan reached the chains of dunes. « It was mainly a sandy dunes with small dunes one after the other. Due to the heavy rain of the previous days, we also tackled the wet sand dunes, that have quiet a strange texture », states Dakar legend Maurizio Dominella, who has 30 Dakar under his belt.
With the second CST Polaris Xtremeplus crew of Pietro Cinotto and Alberto Bertoldi only 41th at the end of the stage, the internal challenge in the Cinotto family is now 2vs1 for the father. « We had a smooth day. The car and the CST tyres worked really and we had no navigation issues », confesses Michele Cinotto.
It was a complicated day for Cinotto-Bertoldi, who were competing with a good pace when they suffered several complications. « It was a pity because we were doing well. We had some issues with the belt and then we had a crash going down from a dune because there was a whole », says Pietro Cinotto. « The car suffered some damages so we lost some important time to repair the damages. The good side is that we could finish. Going slowly but we arrived at the bivouac so that the team can check the car and fix the problems ». Finished 41, they are now in position 33 of the overall.
It was a good day for Jean Claude and Jerome Pla. The French crew made of father and son finished 26th, a very good position considered that this is their first Dakar. « Our target is to finish so we try to manage the pace and driving within our limits to minimize the risks », comments Jean-Claude Pla who are currently in P32 of the overall.
The Japanese Shinsuke Umeda and Italian Giovannetti are in the final sector of today’s long timed section after having been slowed down by a mechanical issue. A warm shower and a good rest will be well deserved as the temperatures are really cold in the night and the duo have a long transfer to arrive to the bivouac.
Tomorrow, the modified stage 3 will be a loop around Al Qaisumh.