Among the 97 autos and 37 motorcycles who have started the Rally in Aksu on May 20, 76 autos and 31 motos have successfully withstood the tough challenges and reached the finish line. This morning in Hotan, the conquerors of 2023 Takllimakan Rally drive slowly through the podium and receive the warmest welcome and the genuien applause from the audiences in the closing ceremony.
As the 15th edition of Taklimakan Rally, the 2023 Taklimakan Rally lasts for 13 days.The 4258 km total stage contains 1 SSS, 9 stages and 2 rest days. The rally sets foot in the south west of Xinjiang and covers 3 regions of Aksu, Kashgar and Hotan. The multi-terrain stages combining gobi, desert, riverbed and gravel road, together with the beautiful scenery of Mountain Kunlun has attracted 231 competitors from China and abroad to participate.
In the auto catogory, the final victory goes to Zi Yungang/Wang Zengrong from Shanxi Yunxiang Team. Team BAIC contributes the podium with Zhang Guoyu/Oriol Mena Valdearcos and Liu Yangui/Chen Feng listed the 2nd and 3rd place. Han Wei, who suffered a major technical issue in stage 3, continues to compete in the rally and serves for his teammates. His teammate Liu Yatuan/Yan Ke finish the 5th place in their SMG, just behind the group Xu Ailli/Tong Zhenrong in Hilus.
Zi Yungang, champion of the auto comments in the interview “My strategy in the begining is to finish the rally with a stable tempo, I did not expect to win the Rally. A good surprise for me. We have a strong logistics and technicle team, I own my performance to them. The view of this stage is amazing, since I have a clear lead, I did not speed up, just admire the snow mountains and the prairie, enjoy the last stage.”
As to the moto, Bradley John cox and Arunas Gelazninkas continues their good performance and take the 1st and 2nd place for their team Shanxi Yulin, the local driver Yakepu finishes the game as the 3rd place in his KTM, followed by Neels Therica and Shi Haoyu in KOVE.
Bradley John Cox, the champion of 2023 Taklimakan said “This is an amazing and incredible week, I have lots of fun in this rally, the people are nice, our team is great. This is my first trip to China, I hope to continue the luck and be the champion during my next trip to China. As to the rally, my favorite part is for sure the dunes, the view of snow mountain of is also amazing, I would definitely stop and take a photo if it was not in the game.”
Taklimakan Rally is established in 2005, during its 15 editions, the Rally has grown into the largest off-road rally in Asia. Based in Xinjiang, the rally is not only an event in the FIA race calendar, but also a window to showcase the various and abundant natural and tourist resources in Xinjiang. Takllimakan Rally started its oversea promotion in 2016 with the first press conference in Europ organized in Paris and received positive feedbacks from the oversea audiences. The beautiful Xinjiang welcomes the racing team as well as travellers from the world to join the Taklimakan Rally, to feel and enjoy the west pearl of China.
2023 Taklimakan Rally Overall Classification Auto
1.Zi Yungang (CHN) / Wang Zengrongg (CHN), Yun Xiang, 34H16’09”
2.Zhang Guoyu(CHN) / Oriol Mena Valdearcos(ESP), BAIC, +5’30”
3.Liu Yangui(CHN) / Chen Feng (CHN), BAIC, +53’58”
4.Xu Aili (CHN) / Tong Zhenrong (CHN), Hilux, +2H58’05”
5.Liu Yatuan (CHN) / Yan Ke (CHN), SMG, +3H20’58”
2023 Taklimakan Rally Overall Classification Moto
1 Bradley John Cox (RSA), KTM, 24H28’05”
2 Arunas Gelazninkas (LTU), KTV, +34’30”
3 Yakepu (CHN), KTM, +1H49’10”
4 NEELS Theric (FRA), KOVE, +2H11’10”
5 Shi Haoyu (CHN), KOVE, +2H17’36”
Source: Taklimankan Rally
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