Monday Stage 6 : DAKHLA / CHAMI : 617km LIAISON : DAKHLA / BOULANOUR : 438km LEG : BOULANOUAR / CHAMI : 174km TRANSFER : CHAMI / BIVOUAC CHAMI : 5km
After a liaison of over 400km and a quick stop at the customs of the Moroccan and Mauritanian borders, this second week of racing in the AFRICA ECO RACE started off with a leg of 174km, with no major difficulties, just one element to take into account was the air temperature well into the 30 degrees. The main drivers of the event had a lot of fun by showing off their driving skills and also their race strategies, this mix gave us a very tight finishing ranking.
Pal Anders ULLEVALSETER still going strong
The days are starting to be look familiar in the bike category, as Pal Anders ULLEVALSETER won his 5th stage in a row. The Norwegian is clearly untouchable behind the bars of his KTM 450. Luckily his rivals are not abandoning the fight so easily, as we saw with the Frenchman Norbert DUBOIS finishing 2nd of the stage and at the end of stage admitting he would have preferred to have his KTM 690 for today’s stage which was very quick and we know he likes speed.
Just behind we have the two Russians of Dmitry AGOSHOV followed by Anastasiya NIFONTOVA and she is still 2nd in the overall ranking behind ULLEVALSETER. On the other hand, today was a very bad day for the Belgium rider Jean Louis BLANPAIN who broke his KTM motor just a few km after the start of the stage. If he has enough spare parts in his assistance vehicle, he will be able to fix it as soon as the balai brings him back to the bivouac and he will be able to start again as the AFRICA ECO RACE rules stat, same situation for the German Thomas SCHATTAT also with an engine failure on his YAMAHA.
Dominique HOUSIEAUX has not been very quick with his OPTIMUS, the French driver is now 17th of the overall ranking, with a gap of just over 4 hours until the leader. Then again, this driver very well known in the off road rally scene has not given up, he is no longer going for the top step of the podium in Dakar but he does hope to shine throughout this Mauritanian week. Today, with an average speed of 145 km/h, Dominique HOUSIEAUX ate the 174km with lots of speed and skills in order to place himself in front of the TOYOAT of Kanat SHAGRIGOV, who is still the leader of the race, and his team mate in the Team MD Rallye Pascal THOMASSE who manages to set a good time and insure his 3rd position in the overall ranking. A very good day for the Hungarian of Balazs SZALAY who with a V8 Opel signed the 4th time of the day in front of the Portugese NISSAN of Riardo LEAL DOS SANTOS.
The truck race, is mainly in between the two KAMAZ trucks who are both settled in the top 2 positions of the overall ranking, was won today by Sergey KUPRIANOV with just 40 seconds in front of Anton SHIBALOV. Just behind we find the Czech TATRA driver Tomas TOMECEK with the 3rd time only 3 minutes in front of the Portuguese MAN of Elisabeth JACINTO.
Today January 5th, the competitors of the 2016 AFRICA ECO RACE will start the serious stuff with a leg of 413 km from Chami to Amodjar. A very sandy stage, with the first real dunes of the rally where because of the current high temperatures will make the sand very soft and hard to pass.
