Old Friends Rally Team duo in 1st place in W2RC when stage was interrupted
Having overcome the problems that affected their Can-Am Maverick in the first two stages, the Alexandre Pinto/Bernardo Oliveira duo made a natural return to the fight for victory among the SSVs in the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, a position they held until the third stage was interrupted due to worsening weather conditions.
“Finally a stage with the car at one hundred percent. I'd like to thank the whole team for the work they've done on our Can-Am and for getting it into condition for today. We had a clean stage, from start to finish. We managed to set a good pace. I know that we were very well positioned at km 151, when the organization called an end to the stage for us due to the strong winds. If everything goes according to plan, we'll be the winners of today's stage among those entered in the World Championship, which would be very good as it would allow us to accumulate important points for the Championship. Let's see how the standings look. Tonight will be spent in the desert,” said Alexandre Pinto.
The stage, which was supposed to be 237 timed kilometers between Mezeer' Ah and the bivouac in Al Qua'a, was shortened for the FIA Competition drivers for safety reasons. The decision taken by the organization took into account the strong winds on the track, which complicated the safety systems, especially the helicopters.
At the time of the interruption, in what was the first part of the marathon stage, the Can-Am entered by the Old Friends Rally Team with the number 401 was already second on the track, despite having started from a very late position. It had a gap of just 43s to the driver who had opened the stage and the Portuguese duo were leading the way among the SSV drivers who score points for the W2RC (World Rally Raid Championship).
Automatic translation of the Portuguese version
Source: Alexandre Pinto / A2 Comunicacão
