VOLKSWAGEN DOMINANCE KICKS IN
author: Leon Botha
If all else fails throw them with an Atom Bomb!
When one spare part stands between you, a win and the onslaught of one of the mightiest Off-road teams in the world - you may as well spend the first three weeks of January every year at a nice coastal resort - catching up on your tan and looking at girls in teenie-weenie bikinis marching by!
If you are silly enough to enter for that little rally thing in Argentina where they do not separate the men from the boys - "they" simply kill the latter!
Yesterday a rear-driveshaft on the BMW driven so well by Stéphane Peterhansel broke and that basically put an end to any hope he had to still win the rally. Stéphane lost about an hour before they fixed the car so that they could carry on in two-wheel drive. Then however the BMW got stuck and they lost another hour which obviously put an end to any fancy aspirations they had to get to the top.
Yesterday's stage was at the same time one of the longest and toughest the teams will encounter on the rally and to the disappointment of all enemies, the Volkswagen team withstood the test with some ease.
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Mark Miller and Ralph Pitchford in action
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Mark Miller and our own Ralph Pitchford took their first stage win of the rally with Sainz and Al-Attiyah following to make it a perfect 1-2-3 for the Volkswagen team.
The spotlight will now however by on Sianz' car as he is now the overall leader of the event and it will be interesting to see how they are going to handle the lead of only 4m37s over Al-Attiyah? I have a feeling that the managers will be too scared to issue team-orders as they may just disappear in the desert?
Ralph's success brought a smile on all SA faces, but as we all rooted for Alfie on his birthday yesterday - you will find many pom-poms lying all over in the streets this morning after many simply threw them away when hearing that Alfie crashed out of the event 144kms into the 483km special stage.
They nosedived down a ravine yesterday putting the willing Nissan on its nose. The impact pushed the oil cooler into the engine and damaged the sump. This however was not the end of Alfie's woes on his birthday - their support truck blew a turbo yesterday and they had no back up for spares!
Once again - a different story when you are in a team on par with Volkswagen - they have spares and trucks all over the place - but unfortunately even that takes time in this incredibly tough desert.
Alfie withdrew from the event and spent their night in their vehicle in the desert! What a birthday?
At least Alfie could warn a number of competitors who would have suffered the same fate!
Racing on the foothills of the Atacama with three serious climbs to altitudes of 3000m above sea-level the often rocky terrain was extremely testing. The first fine powder sand of the Atacama in Chile was also on the menu of this very long day that saw many competitors suffer mechanical problems, tyre problems, and quite a number of minor accidents.
The leading South African Nissan driven by Holowczyc is in sixth spot while South Africa’s Giniel de Villiers moved up to 18th place as we predicted yesterday morning.
Expect another few surprises by tonight - Volkswagen or not today is going to be another tough one!
Thursday, 7 January 2010
Special Stage 8
Antofagasta to Iquique (Chile)
Liaisons: 180 km > Special Stages: 418 km > Liaisons: 0 km Total: 598 km
Dunes, like those raced in Mauritania will greet competitors as the caravan moves north in Chile. Off track racing and massive dunes are expected during tomorrow’s stage. The day starts with a 180km liason from Antofagasta, via La Chimba Nattaional Reserve to the stage start near Coya, and to the west of Calama.
Overall after stage 5
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1
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303
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SAINZ (ESP)
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CRUZ (ESP)
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VOLKSWAGEN
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16:10:51
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00:00:00
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2
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306
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AL-ATTIYAH (QAT)
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GOTTSCHALK (DEU)
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VOLKSWAGEN
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16:15:28
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00:04:37
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3
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305
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MILLER (USA)
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PITCHFORD (ZAF)
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VOLKSWAGEN
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16:20:30
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00:09:39
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4
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302
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GORDON (USA)
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GRIDER (USA)
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HUMMER
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17:10:46
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00:59:55
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5
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314
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SOUSA (PRT)
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BAUMEL (FRA)
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MITSUBISHI
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17:24:13
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01:13:22
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6
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308
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HOLOWCZYC (POL)
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FORTIN (BEL)
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Nissan Overdrive
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17:27:09
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01:16:18
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7
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312
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NEVES (BRA)
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MAESTRELLI (BRA)
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VOLKSWAGEN
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17:31:01
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01:20:10
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8
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307
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CHICHERIT (FRA)
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THOERNER (CHE)
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BMW
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17:38:32
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01:27:41
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9
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322
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SPINELLI (BRA)
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PALMEIRO (PRT)
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MITSUBISHI
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17:48:39
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01:37:48
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10
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301
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PETERHANSEL (FRA)
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COTTRET (FRA)
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BMW
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18:15:40
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02:04:49
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11
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325
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HENRARD (BEL)
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BEGUIN (BEL)
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VOLKSWAGEN
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18:52:42
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02:41:51
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12
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332
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BARBOSA (PRT)
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RAMALHO (PRT)
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MITSUBISHI
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18:56:14
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02:45:23
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13
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313
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LAVIEILLE (FRA)
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FORTHOMME (BEL)
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NISSAN
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18:59:10
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02:48:19
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14
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310
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NOVITSKIY (RUS)
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SCHULZ (DEU)
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BMW
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19:04:24
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02:53:33
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15
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323
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ERRANDONEA (AND)
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GARCIN (FRA)
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SMG
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19:08:18
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02:57:27
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16
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336
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LEAL DOS SANTOS (PRT)
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FIUZA (PRT)
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BMW
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19:09:41
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02:58:50
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17
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317
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VAN DEIJNE (NLD)
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ROSEGAAR (NLD)
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MITSUBISHI
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19:43:32
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03:32:41
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18
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300
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DE VILLIERS (ZAF)
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VON ZITZEWITZ (DEU)
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VOLKSWAGEN
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20:01:38
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03:50:47
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19
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311
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TERRANOVA (ARG)
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MAIMON (FRA)
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MITSUBISHI
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20:15:49
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04:04:58
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20
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318
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MISSLIN (FRA)
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POLATO (FRA)
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MITSUBISHI
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20:19:14
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04:08:23
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21
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320
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GARLAND (AUS)
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SUZUKI (AUS)
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ISUZU
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20:29:04
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04:18:13
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22
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334
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MIRONENKO (RUS)
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LEBEDEV (RUS)
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Nissan Overdrive
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21:09:53
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04:59:02
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