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Rally-Raid Portugal 2024: Al Attiyah dig in
CHICHERIT BOWS OUT AS AL RAJHI DOES A BARREL ROLL
Nasser Al Attiyah (Nasser Racing by Prodrive) clinched yet another stage and expanded his margin in the overall. A second DNF in a row knocked Guerlain Chicherit (Overdrive Racing) out of the rally. A blunder cost his teammate Yazeed Al Rajhi a staggering 20 minutes.
Rokas Baciuška (Can-Am Factory) seized the stage and the overall lead in the Challenger class. Ricardo Porém is back in second place, followed by Nicolás Cavigliasso (Taurus Factory by Wevers).
Yasir Seaidan (MMP) was unable to start the SSV special. Ricardo Ramilo inherited the top spot from the Saudi and now has Rebecca Busi (OnlyFans Racing) and Claude Fournier flanking him on the provisional podium.
His Portuguese baptism of fire has been a roller-coaster for Guerlain Chicherit. The Frenchman won the opening stage, only to DNF both yesterday and today. FIA regulations give drivers a second chance, but not a third one, so the man from Savoy had to throw in the towel. It is a crushing blow for Chicherit, who was third in the championship ranking, a mere 2 points behind Nasser Al Attiyah. The Qatari's heart must have skipped a beat when his engine stalled after blasting through water. Yazeed Al Rajhi pounced on the opportunity to seize the stage lead before he, in turn, made a blunder with a barrel roll. It took him and his co-driver, Timo Gottschalk, nearly 20 minutes to right their Hilux. Lucas Moraes (Toyota Gazoo Racing) took over the reins, locked in a fierce battle with "Al Attack". However, a slowly deflating puncture held the Brazilian back in the end, so he crossed the line 1′49″ off the pace. João Ferreira (X-raid Mini JCW) rounded out the podium at 2′07″. His teammate Carlos Sainz (Mini) lost a fender and his bonnet along the way. His windscreen wiper was also in poor condition, with the windscreen wiper on the passenger's side out of order. The Spaniard suffered from a reduced field of view and, to rub salt in the wound, he received enough penalties for speeding to send him 4′01″ down the ranking. Meanwhile, Al Rajhi is no longer a threat to Al Attiyah in the fight for the title. The Saudi plummeted from 20 seconds back this morning to almost 20 minutes back this evening. Ferreira is now second at 4′39″ and Moraes third at 4′59″. Sainz is fourth at 6′31″. The battle among these four men remains wide open.
Rokas Baciuška grabbed the Challenger stage with 6′47″ in hand over Ricardo Porém and 8′57″ over Marcelo Gastaldi (BBR). The Lithuanian brought his overall lead to 7′22″ over the Portuguese and 10′03″ over Nicolás Cavigliasso. Austin Jones (Can-Am Factory) tied the knot in Portugal, but he is more than 13 minutes down in the rally —a clear case of unlucky at cars, lucky in love. Baciuška also placed his lightweight prototype in second position in the stage, 1′45″ behind Nasser Al Attiyah's T1+. That made him the fifth-fastest driver of all FIA entrants!
In the SSV race, Yasir Seaidan exited the bivouac this morning before turning back inside the road section due to a mechanical. The Saudi did not start the special, giving Ricardo Ramilo a clear run to take the stage among the W2RC entrants for the second time in his career. Rebecca Busi beat Claude Fournier to the bottom step of the podium. The top 3 in the overall mirrors the stage podium.
Source: W2RC / A.S.O.
Photo: ImagensDesportivas.com
Image Gallery of today's stage available here
Helder