– Ninth overall for Lionel Baud
– Denis Krotov finishes 21st in the MINI JCW Rally 3.0i
At the Baja España Aragón, the fifth round of both the FIA World Baja Cup and the FIA European Baja Cup, father-daughter duo Lionel and Lucie Baud once again delivered a consistently strong performance. The French pair secured ninth overall in the MINI JCW Rally 3.0d — an impressive result given the 
exceptionally strong competition, both in quality and quantity, at this year’s event. Denis Krotov and Konstantin Zhiltsov finished 21st in their MINI JCW Rally 3.0i. It was a weekend of bad luck for the all-female team of Maria Gameiro and Rosa Romero in their MINI JCW Rally 3.0d. Despite a solid run, a belt issue during the final stage pushed them back to 74th overall.
The Baud family already impressed on Friday, taking tenth place in the prologue. However, during the subsequent selection of starting positions for the top 10, only the first starting position remained available to them. This meant they had to open both stages on Saturday. Despite this challenge, they performed very well, finishing seventh and twelfth respectively. They started the final stage on Sunday in 11th place overall and managed to make up considerable time, finishing the rally in ninth.
Teammate Krotov had a less successful start to the Baja Aragón, ending the prologue in 56th place. Saturday morning didn’t bring much improvement, but he found his rhythm in the second special stage, finishing 19th. On Sunday, he completed the stage in 13th, allowing him to make up time and move up to 21th overall.
The next event for the X-raid Team will be the Hungarian Baja, the sixth round of the FIA European Cup. The line-up will be announced in due course.
Statements
Lionel Baud (MINI JCW Rally 3.0d): « It was my first participation in the Baja Aragón together with Lucie, and we are satisfied with our result. After a good prologue, we had to open the stages on Saturday. It was great to be out front, but the track was a bit slippery. On Sunday, we set the seventh-fastest time, getting quite close to the front-runners. Lucie and I are making steady progress. Thanks also to the X-raid Team, who have made some fantastic improvements to my car. We’re continuing to develop and look to the future with a lot of confidence. We’ll keep preparing for Dakar at Rally Portugal and in Morocco. »
Overall standings
1. J. Ferreira / F. Palmeiro – Toyota – 5h 50m 39s
2. N. Al-Attiyah / F. Lurquin – Dacia – 5h 50m 41s
3. N. Roma / A. Haro – Ford – 5h 52m 21s
4. S. Variawa / F. Cazalet – Toyota – 5h 57m 04s
5. J. Yacopini / D. Oliveras – Toyota – 5h 59m 12s…
9. L. Baud / L. Baud – MINI JCW Rally 3.0d – 6h 05m 54s…
21. D. Krotov / K. Zhiltsov – MINI JCW Rally 3.0i – 6h 17m 02s…
74. M. Gameiro / R. Romero – MINI JCW Rally 3.0d – 8h 25m 37s