The last day of Baja Aragon may have featured only one 159 km long special, the shortest of the weekend, but this doesn't mean it was a walk in the park. Yesterday's leaders became today's losers in both T3 and T4, and at the end of the day, Joao Dias and Jerome de Sadeleer emerged as winners.
Interviews: Dani Sordo, Mashael Al Obaidan, Wladimir Grunenberg, Scott Abraham
T3 (light prototype)
While yesterday it seemed like WRC star Dani Sordo already had one hand on his first cross-country trophy, today a puncture cost him the victory. The Spaniard eventually finished second behind Joao Dias who won the category.
Behind them, Cristina Gutierrez occupied the lowest step of the podium, again proving her reliability, while her teammate, Guillaume de Mevius, won the stage, but had no chance for a good result overall due to his problems yesterday.
Speaking of de Mevius, as we mentioned already, he didn't finish yesterday afternoon's special. T3 World Cup leader Fernando Alvarez had problems in the same special, but he managed to finish. However, today de Mevius started in front of the Argentine, according to the Start List, amended no less than five times.
de Mevius:
SS2: 68th, start SS3: 40th
Alvarez:
SS2: 45th, start SS3: 42nd
It is true that FIA priority drivers can be moved up in the starting order, but what happens when both are priority drivers? We've checked the regulations thoroughly for you, and found that there is no clear procedure for this case. Who decides and on what base? The question is good! And such decisions can affect the outcome of a race, let alone a championship…
In the World Cup, there was no change in the top 3: Fernando Alvarez is still in the lead (92 points) in front of Dania Akeel (67 points) and Saleh AlSaif (56 points).
Dani Sordo: “Last stage I did not take really fast, because the road was really rough and I had a puncture. We lost time and the guy behind us caught us. He made a beep and we went out. After this we were on the back of him and made a beep to pass him but he was in the middle of the road. It's ok, we are happy.”
Mashael Al Obaidan: “Hello everyone! Today is the last day of Baja Aragon 2022. We had fun and it was a good stage. Compared to yesterday the speed was better because yesterday's stage was very long and we had to get used to the new terrain. It's my second time in Aragon. Every time I love it! See you in the next rally.”
T4 (standard SSV)
In T4, to some surprise, Jerome de Sadeleer emerged as winner, after yesterday's leader Cristiano Batista lost turbo in the last 20 kilometres of the special. Mshari Al-Thefiri finished third.
In the World Cup standings, Batista took the lead with 95 points, in front of Al-Thefiri (85 points) and Kees Koolen (66 points).
Wladimir Grunenberg (co-driver of Cristiano Batista): “Hi, my name is Wladimir, I am from Brazil. The first day was good, very hard. And we had 1st position. The 2nd day was good, but in the last 20 kilometres we lost the turbo and finished 2nd in T4. Aragon is good and the organisation is good.”
Scott Abraham (team principal of South Racing team): “Baja Aragon 2022 came to an end, it was another great race for South Racing Can-Am. We've got 10 cars at the start and all 10 cars at the finish. (...) Baja Aragon was my first Baja in 2003, for me it's always a well organised race. I think they need to change the starting order and to have the prologue because T3 and T4 are much faster. Dani Sordo was 4th in the overall yesterday. I think they will find a solution with the FIA.”
Text: Rita Kónya
Interviews: Sveta Amelichkina
Photos: Southe Racing
