Dakar SS7 X-raid Yamaha supported Team: Ferreira surprises with third place

322 CASALE Ignacio (chl), LEON Alvaro (chl), X-Raid Yamaha Supported Team, Yamaha, SSV, action during the Stage 7 of the Dakar 2023 between Riyadh and Al Duwadimi, on January 7th, 2023 in Al Duwadimi, Saudi Arabia - Photo Gigi Soldano / DPPI

– Ignacio Casale finishes fifth
– Casale now tenth overall

The drivers of the X-raid YXZ1000R Turbo Prototype again showed today what is possible with the further developed side-by-side. After problems at the beginning of the Dakar 2023, they now show themselves permanently in the top 10. On today’s seventh stage, the two Portuguese Joao Ferreira and Filipe Palmeiro surprised with third place. Ignacio Casale and Alvaro Leon completed the success with fifth place. The Chilean thus also managed to jump to tenth place in the overall standings.

Ahmed Alkuwari and Manuel Lucchese finished the day in 19th place, while the two women Annett Fischer and Annie Seel reached 22nd place. They are in a good 13th place overall. Camelia Liparoti and Xavier Blanco finished in 26th place. They are in 21st place overall, one position behind their teammate Alkuwari. Ricardo Porém and Augusto Sanz finished in 37th place.

Ferreira had started the stage in 14th position and immediately set the times of the leading group. In the meantime, he even led the time table. After 333 kilometres he reached the finish in a sensational third place. Casale was also able to keep up with the times of the leading group throughout the entire stage. With his fifth place, he worked his way up to tenth place in the overall standings.

Joao Ferreira: « It was a very fast stage. Filipe did a great job with the navigation. We were able to overtake many competitors. We managed to finish the stage without any problems on the car and that’s the most important thing. »

Ignacio Casale: « Today we finished in a good fifth place. We started from fifth place and pushed hard from the beginning. The stage itself was fun. I hope tomorrow will be as good again. »

Annett Fischer: « The stage was relatively fast at the beginning. Then came relatively heavy dunes. I thought that we would have to deal with fewer dunes and started with a relatively high tyre pressure. We stopped briefly in between to let the air out of the tyres. At the end there were some stones and I’m glad we didn’t suffer a puncture. »

Tomorrow, the drivers return to their teams in Riyadh. With a total of 824 kilometres, they have another long day ahead of them. The stage itself is 346 kilometres long. Great contrasts await the drivers: At the beginning they will drive into the mountains, later into the open desert. On Monday, the rest day in Riyadh is on the agenda.

Dakar Rally – result SS7
1. M Guthrie / K. Walch – Can-Am – 3h 39m 37s
2. F. Lopez / J. Latrach – Can-Am – 3h 41m 22s
3. J. Ferreira / F. Palmeiro – X-raid YXZ1000R Turbo Prototype – 3h 41m 35s
4. S. Quintero / D. Zenz – Can-Am – 3h 42m 39s
5. I. Casale / A. Leon – X-raid YXZ1000R Turbo Prototype – 3h 43m 41s…
19. A. Alkuwari / M. Lucchese – X-raid YXZ1000R Turbo Prototype – 4h 20m 41s…
22. A. Fischer / A. Seel – X-raid YXZ1000R Turbo Prototype – 4h 23m 47s…
26. C. Liparoti / X. Blanco – X-raid YXZ1000R Turbo Prototype – 4h 28m 48s…
37. R. Porém / A. Sanz – X-raid YXZ1000R Turbo Prototype – 5h 32m 23s

Overall standings after SS7
1. G. de Mevius / F. Cazalet – OT3 – 31h 43m 12s
2. A. Jones / G. Gugelmin – Can-Am – 31h 51m 41s
3. S. Quintero / D. Zenz – Can-Am – 32h 46m 07s
4. F. Lopez / J. Latrach – Can-Am – 34h 22m 07s
5. S. Alsaif / J. Vitoria Re – Can-Am – 35h 24m 26s…
10. I. Casale / A. Leon – X-raid YXZ1000R Turbo Prototype – 38h 36m 35s…
13. A. Fischer / A. Seel – X-raid YXZ1000R Turbo Prototype – 40h 47m 08s…
18. R. Porém / A. Sanz – X-raid YXZ1000R Turbo Prototype – 42h 43m 56s…
20. A. Alkuwari / M. Lucchese – X-raid YXZ1000R Turbo Prototype – 43h 32m 26s
21. C. Liparoti / X. Blanco – X-raid YXZ1000R Turbo Prototype – 44h 10m 14s…
34+. J. Ferreira / F. Palmeiro – X-raid YXZ1000R Turbo Prototype – 76h 45m 15s

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