Mid race the Portuguese team got to third place and kept fighting for the podium till the end
Driving a MAN TGS, Elisabete Jacinto, Team Oleoban/MAN Portugal race driver, together with Jos Marques and Marco Cochinho, conquered third place in the truck general classification at the Moroccan Rally and finished yet another cross-country international competition in a most exemplary way.
In this Moroccan Rally, the MAN team was only beaten by Team De Rooy race drivers. However, Elisabete Jacinto was on two occasions faster than Miki Biasion, former rally world champion, and on those stages she was second among trucks.
The Portuguese team arrived at third place after the fourth stage. On the fifth day of the race, that place was confirmed by being more than two hours ahead the direct follower, the Italian Claudio Bellina. At the last stage the team was third in its category and, with that result, its place on the podium was guaranteed, that being its main objective.
In this race, the driver showed her perseverance and reached her main purpose: obtaining a much sought podium place. Im proud to have finished another race and most notably to have positioned our MAN in third place, ahead of all those prototypes. Although its true that in terms of the truck category we couldnt have done better, I feel nonetheless sorry not to have made the truck car category top ten. For that I would have needed to have been a little faster on sand. This good classification is also due to my teams excellent work, therefore here is a word on their behalf, acknowledging their efforts too, summed up Elisabete Jacinto after finishing the race.
For Jorge Gil, the team coordinator, the balance for this Moroccan Rally is also positive: We reached our main purpose and this was our third podium this year. It was a difficult race and it had to be very well managed on our part. However, the team was at its best level, and we couldnt be happier with the result, he stressed.
Elisabete Jacinto and Team Oleoban/MAN Portugal will be back on competition at the end of December, when Africa Eco Race 2013 shall start.
