Bryce Menzies (USA) moves up to 4th overall after Leg 2.
Al Rajhi loses time after slipping into a hole.

Munich. Bryce Menzies (USA) and Peter Mortensen (USA) in the #105 MINI John Cooper Works Rally have completed the difficult second leg of the 2017 Silk Way Rally in 4th place overall, despite challenging conditions on the demanding terrain of the Grand Kazan Track.

The highly technical, narrow track of Stage 2 was made even more challenging by heavy rain adding to the slippery grass surface, but the American pairing played it safe for the majority of the day’s race. Their caution paid off, with Menzies and Mortensen moving up one place from 5th in the overall rankings to 4th at the end of Leg 2.

Mortensen: “Stage 2 was very difficult today; there was a lot of rain and a lot of slippery grass fields the same as stage 1 yesterday. It was very tough. We played it cautious at the beginning and made up quite a lot of time but then towards the end we slid off and hit a ditch but the car still ran perfectly, so we just played it safe from there. We ended up 4th so we’re feeling good and looking forward to stage 3.”

The second MINI John Cooper Works Rally pairing of Yazeed Al Rajhi (KSA) and Tom Colsoul (BEL) in the #101 car were less fortunate today as they fell victim to one of the hidden holes mentioned in the day’s race description. With just 30km remaining in the Stage, they slipped into a 2m hole and had to wait for help, incurring a penalty of 05:50:00 and pushing Al Rajhi from 4th in the overall standings to 41st.

Colsoul: “I think it was a big mistake for all of the cars to go on the stage today; it was slippery from the first metre to the last and it felt dangerous. The stage times reflect the difficulties, but we managed. We went off a couple of times but nothing too bad. At 120km there was a modification and in the part that was replaced there was a small hole in the road to the left but there was also a huge crack in the right of the road that was not mentioned. We tried to avoid the hole and then we went into a ditch that we didn’t know was there and, of course, we couldn’t get out. We had to wait for local guys and they needed two tractors to get us out, which cost us 2 hours. It’s a pity.”

Leg 3 will see the competitors cross the border into Kazakhstan as they complete 876.39km, including a special stage of 329.95km, from Ufa to Kostanay.