Webventure

Only the gods of the rally can help Palmeirinha


Paulo Nobre counts on Divine help to be champion (foto: Isaias Miciu)

OK, there is still one stage to GO. But in no unexpected incident happens until it ends, Guilherme Spinelli and Youssef Haddar will be confirmed tomorrow as champions of the 2011 Sertões International Rally. Even with today’s win, the duo Paulo Nobre (Palmeirinha) and Filipe Palmeiro is still 32 minutes behind Guilherme and Youssef in the overall a very difficult difference to be taken off if both accelerate the cars as appropriate in the final.

“Today, we drove carefully, principally in the last 50 kilometers, a very difficult Trial. (…) We do feel like champions yet, no way. Tomorrow is a Special that is worth Just as much as the others”, said Giga to Webventure, at the end of the stage, which he completed in third place in 3h39min30 Klever Kolberg and Flávio França arrived in second with a time of 3h36min49.

On the other hand, Palmeirinha, who won with a time of 3h33min53, knows that only a miracle can give him the championship. “Tomorrow I have to do my homework. Its to be in the right place at the right time. If the gods of the rally wish, the thing [victory] will fall into our laps”, he said. “A rally is a box of surprises, and it only ends when it ends”.

And the driver recognizable by the Green color of his car (and of his uniform, of his helmet and of so many other objects in honor of his favorite soccer team, Palmeiras) takes the advantage to thank the good performance of his navigator, Filipe. “We get along very well. It is only possible [to be in second place in the contest] thanks to his work and that of our team”. He unburdened himself in sequence: “But I am counting the hours for the rally to end. Heavens, how tired I am!”.

Meanwhile, in the Pro-ethanol
Up until two days ago, the duo Klever Kolberg and Flavio de França, did not have much hope of winning the 2011 Sertões International Rally in the pro-ethanol category, made up of cars produced in Brazil. But it all changed after today, when his main rival, Reinaldo Varela, had a mechanical problem which put him into 28th place in the stage.

“Because of this surprising problem [stones that hit the vehicle’s steering column], we had to drive about 120 kilometers at very low speed. We took an hour and a half more than normal, but we didn’t give up”, Varela said, through his advisor. He drives with the navigator, Eduardo Bampi.

Klever doesn’t agree. “I think that we are here because everything in our group worked, and not because the adversaries had problems”, he told Webventure. And he adds, defending the class of national cars against the imported ones of Guilherme and Palmeirinha, who are ahead of him in the overall. “If everyone had Brazilian cars, the contest would be more interesting.”

Andrei Spinassé collaborated, straight from Sobrasl (CE)

Este texto foi escrito por: Marilin Novak*