Bryce Menzies / Peter Mortensen move into top three overall after third place finish in Leg 5.
Yazeed Al Rajhi / Tom Colsoul complete Leg 5 in ninth and return to the top 20 leader board.

Munich. The MINI John Cooper Works Rally (#105) of Bryce Menzies (USA) and co-driver Peter Mortensen (USA) is now placed third in the Silk Way Rally after a fast but challenging Leg 5. The American pairing completed the 849.54km leg distance, including a 487.47km special stage, in third position to move up one place in the overall rankings.

The day’s route followed magnificent lakes and landscapes, with a combination of fast roads and difficult navigation.

Menzies: It was a long stage; the beginning was really fast, high speed roads. The navigation was good and me and Pete were really clicking along. The middle of the stage was a little bit slower and towards the end the navigation was tough, but we picked it back up in the last 100km and pushed to the finish. It was a really strong day for us, we ended up third and we’re now third overall too. The car was running great and we’re feeling really good for tomorrow.”

Yazeed Al Rajhi (KSA) and Tom Colsoul (BEL) completed the Leg in ninth position to break back inside the top 20 on the leader board. The duo, who are completing their first ever rally as team-mates in the #101 MINI John Cooper Works Rally are now ranked 19th overall and continue to improve their position daily despite setbacks on Leg 2.

Colsoul: “Today was a very nice stage; a little bit long, but nice. Navigation was extremely tough because of the long grass and that made it a disastrous stage to start as the first or second car. We were the grass machine for the other cars to open the road by being in the front two, so the times were not great, but I think we did well. It was a good stage for the trucks today as they sit much higher but for me was a very good day. I’m very happy with how I navigated, it was a fantastic exercise and even though it was super difficult I managed and did well. I’m really happy even though our current position is not what we hoped for.”

Thursday’s Leg 6, Semey - Urdzhar, will cover 597.13km, of which 387.86km is special stage, that takes in many changes of direction and small, tricky off-track sections.