Volkswagen started to show their power in the 17th Sertões International Rally. Today, the Rally Dakar winner team got the first three places on cars category. The pair Nasser Al-Attiyah and Timo Gottschalk won and completed the 256 Km in 2h30min28s. Second place went to Brazilians Mauricio Neves and Eduardo Bampi, while Spanish Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz completed the first three places.
This was a good experience in not so easy conditions, because we started in 10th place. It was a good result, and I hope to win this rally, because Ive been willing to participate in Sertões for three years, and I couldnt come. I hope the good result repeats on the next 9 stages, said Nasser.
The first day of the 17th edition of the Sertões International Rally started at 9 a.m., with the stage between Goiânia and Santa Helena. Pilots raced 256 Km of timed trail, and 70 liaison Km. The Brazilian pilots got good placings in all categories.
Todays greatest challenge for most of the competitors was navigation. We opened the race and went for a little ride right away. Its ok, but it is important that we pay more attention from now on. When we got back, we recovered well, said the pilot Jean Azevedo, that partners with Youssef Haddad and placed first in the Super Prime on Thursday, but placed fourth this Wednesday.
On trucks, the team Edu Piano/ Davi Fonseca/ Solom Mendes, that started second after Super Prime classification, was 8 minutes faster than team Amable Barrasa/ Guilherme Petrine, this way, placing first on the first day. The trio finished the first special with 3h14min02s05.
Our strategy was very important for this stage. When the organization in São Paulo informed that this stage would be very hard, with lots of hills, we changed the trucks suspension, and this was very efficient. The truck came out very good, and it is always good to start with a victory, said Edu Piano.
Despite a little crash, the trio André Azevedo/ Maykel Justo/ Ronaldo Pinto finished third. Today we have faced our first hardship. On Km 190 of the special, we were on a high-speed road and we had to turn right on a little road. In the curve we saw a cattle-grid, and I ended up hitting the back of the truck there, and had a rear tire puncture. As soon as we stepped out to change it, we saw there was diesel leaking from the tank. I believe we lost 25 minutes changing the injection nozzle, said the pilot.
One of the important pilots of the bikes class in Brazil, Zé Helio finished in first place, at 12h06, with 2h59min50 total time. This was a pleasant day, a good start. It was even simpler than I imagined. A day with lots of navigation, lots of piloting. My machine is very good. By the time I noticed, it was finished, he said.
Like the other categories pilots, the Portuguese pilot Pedro Bianchi had navigation problems, what took him many kilometers out of the correct way. The rally is still beginning, and I can recover, but I could see that it is going to be a hard race, said the pilot.
On quads, Cristiano Sousa finished the day in first place with total time 1h39min09s, and finished the special with 3h39min59s07. Second place Carlo Collet, only crossed the finish line 10 minutes later.
Extra official result of the first day of the Sertões International Rally: cars
1) Nasser Al-Attiyah/ Timo Gottschalk – 2h30min28
2) Maurício Neves/ Eduardo Bampi 2h34min03
3) Carlos Sainz/ Lucas Senra 2h35min52
Extra official result of the first day of the Sertões International Rally: trucks
1) Edu Piano/ Davi Fonseca/ Solom Mendes 3h14min02s05
2) Amable Barrasa/ Guilherme Petrine 3h22min00s5
3) André Azevedo/ Maykel Justo/ Ronaldo Pinto 3h41min01s01
Extra official result of the first day of the Sertões International Rally: bikes
1) Zé Hélio – 2h59min50
2) Thiago Fantozzi – 3h01min58
3) Juca Bala – 3h04min38
Extra official result of the first day of the Sertões International Rally: quads
1) Cristiano Sousa Batista 3h39min59s7
2) Carlo Collet 3h48min25s0
3) Rodrigo Varela 4h11min12s0
Este texto foi escrito por: Redação Webventure
Last modified: junho 24, 2009
