Trouble free Thursday on the Africa Eco Race

Trouble free Thursday on the Africa Eco Race

After three days of racing, a certain hierarchy is being set on the AFRICA ECO RACE, should it be the two or four wheel category.

SECOND VICTORY FOR BOTTURI IN MOTO
The moto drivers do not appreciate gravel tracks and that was the case for Thursday's stage, especially for Simone AGAZZI, who after falling off his bike, asked where all these stones were coming from ! 

The Italian rider takes 3rd place, 11’32’’ from Alessandro BOTTURI, the winner of the stage with 2’38’’ withPal Anders ULLEVALSETER in second. 
Amongst the notable performances of the day, Martin BENKO finished 4th with 32’29’’. The Slovakian is 5’25’’ in front of Francisco ARREDONDO who’s back in the top 5 on the special stage. The first of the +700 is Paolo CAPRIONI in 12th position. The Italian is ranked ahead Jan ZATKO, first in +450 category. 
In the general ranking, it’s the Swede Henrik RAHM who leading the +450 category and again CAPRIONI for the +700. 

 
3 from 3 for  LAURE/CRESPO in auto category
Dominique LAURE et Christophe CRESPO are ahead of th pack - “Malabil et Malabar”, the “Fous du Volant” OPTIMUS N°211 are dominating the category. By staying ahead of Jean-Pierre STRUGO and François BORSOTTO by 1’42’’, and Jean Noël & Rabha JULIEN by 7’26’’, they are stampingm their dominance in the general ranking and are now 16’46’’ in front of STRUGO/BORSOTTO and 48’59’’ ahead of the JULIEN family. There is close competition between the TAREK of Yves FROMON & Paul VIDAL and the one of Patrick MARTIN & Didier BIGOT, 4th and 5th placed with less than 10 minutes separating them. Still in the general ranking with their NISSAN NAVARRA, François and Stéphane COUSIN are still leaders of the 4x4 category, while Alexey TITOV and Andrey RUSOV’s FORD RAPTOR are still in the lead in the T2 category. Satisfying performance also from French team Rudy ROQUESALANE & Vincent FERRI, 1st in SSV category and 11th overall in their CAN AM X3.
 
VICTORY FOR BOUWENS BUT JACINTO TAKES THE TRUCKS LEAD.
Once again on the AFRICA ECO RACE competition is raging in the truck category. After loosing three hours yesterday due to steering issues on the IVECO, Igor BOUWENS, Tom DE LEEUW & Ulrich BOERBOOM succeeded today and got 6th place on the auto/truck scratch. But the Belgiums still have competition from Elisabete JACINTO, José MARQUES & Marco COCHINHO who finish 1’30’’ behind. The MAN ends up in 6th place in the overall auto/truck ranking. The Portuguese driver is now head of the truck category - 9 minutes ahead the Tatra of the Czechoslovak Tomas TOMECEK. On board his MAN, Belgium Noël ESSERS isstill in 3rd position in front of the GINAF of Aad VAN VELSEN. 
 
Today, Friday 4th of January, the AFRICA ECO RACE with head down South to join Fort Chacal. A special stage of 495km during which, once again, navigation will be the key to the podium.
 
Ranking stage 3 : Agdal / Assa*
Car / Truck :
1. Dominique Laure / Christophe Crespo n°211 (FRA) 04 :24 :43
2. Jean-Pierre Strugo / François Borsotto n°203 (FRA) + 00 :01 :42
3. Jean-Noël Julien / Rabha Julien n°208 (FRA) + 00 :07 :26

Bike :
1. Alessandro Botturi n°103 (ITA) 04 :36 :26
2. Pal Anders Ullevalseter n°100 (NOR) + 00 :02 :38
3. Simone Agazzi n°116 (ITA) + 00 :18 :32
Overall ranking*
Car / Truck : 
1. Dominique Laure / Christophe Crespo n°211 (FRA) 10 :45 :41
2. Jean-Pierre Strugo / François Borsotto n°203 (FRA) + 00 :16 :46
3. Jean-Noël Julien / Rabha Julien n°208 (FRA) + 00 :48 :59

Bike :
1. Alessandro Botturi n°103 (ITA) 11 :08 :58
2. Pal Anders Ullevalseter n°100 (NOR) + 00 :07 :07
3. Simone Agazzi n°116 (ITA) + 00 :45 :53


Related Motorsport Articles

84,519 articles