Sixth stage was Marathon Stage (foto: Theo Ribeiro/ www.webventure.com.br)
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6th day: Under control!
A long day, a very hard special, slow and complicated, but without any news, almost everything stayed the same. The only changes were in the attitude of some leaders that decided not to step (or push) so hard on the gas, depending on the case! We got to the sixth day of the race, and history follows its course, almost the same way it begun
Bikes
Until now, the Marathon Stage didnt make any victims among the leaders in bikes. Instead, a conservative stage was seen. Everyone decided to keep things under control.
An evidence of this is that the only pilot that risked and pushed hard on the gas was Jakub Przygonski. He accelerated and won the special with little bit more than 2 minutes ahead of Zé Hélio. He finally didnt win. Just kidding, but the truth is that he clearly decided to manage his almost 48 minutes of advantage over other pilots. Denisio Nascimento arrived in 3rd, Ike Klaumann in 4th, and Juca Bala in 5th.
After this stage, the general result stayed the same, that is, Zé Hélio still leads, with Denisio Nascimento in second, Juca Bala third, Guto Klaumann fourth, and Rodolpho Mattheis fifth.
Quads
The news is that Cristiano Souza didnt win! Thats it, Carlo Colett won todays stage, and managed to cut almost 18 minutes from the difference to the leader. Cristiano decided to ride cautiously, in order to spare his equipment in during the Marathon Stage, making the second best time. Even though, his advantage over Collet is still 48m52s, which leaves him no concern about next stages. In third comes Márcio Oliveira.
If Cristianos strategy is to go on cautiously, Collets is exactly the opposite: he is willing to squeeze the gas in the next stages, in order to catch up and get to Natal with some chances of winning. It seems that things are going to get exciting among those two
Cars
Carlos Sainz was spectacular. The Spanish pilot rode hard and won the special 17 minutes ahead of Nasser Al Attyah, teammate and second place. With this time, Sainz recovered the rally general leadership, and opened a 5m8s advantage over the Qatari pilot. Riamburgo Ximenes placed third on the special.
Volkswagen team keeps alternating the general leadership. This time, Sainz is the first again, with Al Attyah in second. The third place is with Jean Azevedo, who had problems today. He hit a tree and managed the 8th time only. Riamburgo Ximenes is in 4th, and Roberto Reijers in 5th.
I know that Volkswagen team is the winner, but my prognostics for the winner are a little bit confused due to this leadership swapping. Since I am an optimistic guy, I start to believe that the cup will really live in a Spanish shelf.
Trucks
Edu Piano didnt want to release his foot. Just the opposite: he stepped hard and won another stage, with a much higher average speed. He is approaching 40 minutes difference ahead of Amable Barrasa, who made the second best time. Guido Salvini was third, and André Azevedo had problems with his truck.
Edu Piano keeps leading the general results, Amable is second, and Guido Salvini, passing André Azevedo, third. This result gives T4.2 leadership to Guido.
With today victory, Edu Piano counts six victories in six stages, a champions performance. I believe he will start to drive more cautiously, in order not to risk his practically guaranteed cup.
7th day
The seventh stage looks hard and difficult, since there will be 548 Km, being 235 pure sand, with lots of navigation, winding sectors, and all under scorching sun and a hell of a heat. Pilots and machines will have their resistance tested, and you can be sure that many of them will ride with an eye on the road and the other one on the temperature pointer!
Tomorrow will be the day of breaking down, and those who manage to pass by the stage without further problems will be able to count on a good final result
Este texto foi escrito por: Kleber Tinoco, specially for Webventure