Old Friends Rally Team duo in 1st place in the SSV World Championship and on the podium of the FIA Rockie Challenge
Alexandre Pinto made a brilliant start to his Dakar Rally debut. Excellently navigated by Bernardo Oliveira, he took victory today among the drivers competing in the World Championship, a competition for which he has already scored the first five points that give him the lead. Today's result puts the duo in the lead among the SSV Rookies and on the absolute podium of the FIA Rockie Challenge. At the controls of a Can-Am registered by the Old Friends Rally Team, the pair spent 5h24m50s covering the 412 timed kilometers of the stage that started and ended in Bisha. A time that placed them in the absolute top five among the SSV category vehicles.
“It was a relatively fast stage, but tough at the same time, with lots of rocks and therefore very demanding on the suspension. It was a very positive stage for us. We got to the end without any problems, we had no punctures. We had a few losses, one of which was due to inexperience and because we didn't believe in ourselves. We went after more experienced navigators who were lost and it turned out we were right. It's normal, we learn from our mistakes. Now we're going to prepare the car for the next stage. I'm a bit anxious to see how this 48-hour, 1,000-kilometer stage is going to go. Today was just a start, but I feel we're strong and confident,” said Alexandre Pinto at the end of the stage.
The next two days will see the 48-hour chrono stage introduced for the first time in the 2024 edition. At five o'clock in the afternoon, the participants will have to stop at the next of the six rest areas along the route of the special. The drivers will be cut off from the world by camping under the starry sky after sharing dinner with their opponents. The following morning, the participants' orders will be given at dawn at each rest area, but the second part of the 48-hour stage will take place on more varied terrain in the north of Bisha. Although the dunes won't be as daunting, the difficulty will remain virtually unchanged. Most of the participants will face around a hundred kilometers of dunes each day.
Automatic translation of the Portuguese version available on www.todoterreno.pt
Source: Alexandre Pinto / Old Friends Rally Team
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