Navigators were the stars of the day on the stretch of 174 kilometers against the clock between Pernambuco and Bahia
Current champions of the BRB Sertões Rally, the duo Lucas Moraes/Kaique Bentivoglio continues to promote an impeccable campaign in search of their third title in the main race of the national off-road. On board a Toyota GR Hilux DKR T1+ model, the duo won for the second consecutive time one of the specials of the race, which will end on August 16th, after a total of eight days of competition. On Saturday's special, Moraes and Bentivoglio had already opened an important nine-minute advantage for the second-placed. And this Sunday, the leaders not only won, but also managed to maintain their advantage in exactly 09:10, considered a good start after only two days of trial.
But the second placement went to the Century Racing CR6-T of the duo Marcelo Gastaldi/Cadu Sachs, which this Sunday reached the second position. According to Lucas Moraes, the highlight of the day was the work of the navigators. "There by km 30 or 40, more or less, I have never seen the Kaique speak so much," he joked, referring to the indications provided by Bentivoglio on the route ahead. "But he got it all right. It makes my job, my confidence much easier. It was very good, excellent," he praised. On the test, Moraes again highlighted the level of difficulty. "It was another stage for grown men," he defined. "This year’s Sertões is showing that it’s really going to be tough. Despite being short, today, we had a special difficult and treacherous, easy to get a flat tire. But the most important thing was that we went well, with the car on the track, without any tires. We didn't have to get out of the car for anything," he explained.
"In fact, it was a "well-navigated" day. One of the most complex navigations I've ever done in that car. Lucas walked a lot, we did a perfect test, everything fits", agreed Kaique Bentivoglio.
This Monday, the Sertões caravan leaves again in Petrolina, in Pernambuco, but now for Xique-Xique, in Bahia, where it will spend the night. The long special, – 407-kilometer timed stretch – will be the first leg of the marathon stage in which the competitors cannot count on the assistance of the teams in case of technical problems. "Now, we have a very important moment of the rally, which promises to be quite difficult too. But we are working day by day," Moraes commented.
The double champion of the Sertões has the support of Toyota Gazoo Racing, Red Bull, SpeedMax (PneuStore), Zapälla, Strava and Sparco. The Toyota GR DKR Hilux T1+ from Moraes and Bentivoglio is operated in Brazil by the MEM Motorsports team, with the support of experts from Belgian Overdrive Racing, and is defended by them in international races. Check out below the top five of the day, the overall ranking of the race, and the schedule of the next few days in the BRB Sertões Rally:
Result Stage 02, Sunday (13/08), category Cars
1st) Lucas Moraes/Kaique Bentivoglio (Toyota GR Hilux DKR T1+), 2h21min42s66
2nd) Marcelo Gastaldi/Cadu Sachs (Century Racing CR6-T), at 02min03s04
3rd) Sylvio de Barros/Ramon Sacilotti (Toyota IMA Overdrive), at 02min46s60
4th) Cristian Baumgart/Beco Andreotti (Prodrive Hunter T1+), at 03min13s96
5th) Guiga Spinelli/Paulo Fiuza (Mitsubishi Triton Sport Racing), at 03min44s54
6th) Marcos Baumgart/Kleber Cincea (Prodrive Hunter T1+), 04min03s29
Automatic translation from the original Brazilian-Portuguese version available on www.todoterreno.pt
Source: BestPR/ Toyota Gazoo Racing
Photo: Marcelo Maragni / Red Bull Pool Content
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