Wednesday, January 10
5th stage: San Juan de Marcona – Arequipa
Total: 774 km – Special: 268 km
The days follow but are not alike. Yesterday, everything is perfect for our 2WD crew, Eugenio Amos and Sébastien Delaunay, but today, Lady bad luck got involved! First of all, the first stage was a hell of gigantic dunes and difficult to cross for all the cadors of the discipline. In memory of champion, we had never seen that! In the second stage, two kilometers from the finish, two kilometers from the finish, at the Buggy gearbox … but they managed to get out of the Special.
Eugenio Amos / Sébastien Delaunay # 335 – 11th of the SS5 in 3h33’34 to 42’15 of the winner Peterhansel / Cottret and 7th in the general: “The first stage was very hard, comments Sébastien Delaunay, co-driver of Amos. Soft sand dunes, fesh-fesh … We were stuck three times but others and have stayed much longer than us. Finally, we almost made the lines and it was really not easy.
The second Special was less hard but sharp in navigation. We managed to get back on Al Qasimi and to make up our delay but, 2 km from the finish, we broke the gearbox! We managed to be pulled for a while and then we crossed the finish line pushing. Then Nasser Al Attiyah pulls us to the road and we get pulled back by our assistance truck. It’s a shame but we limit the damage and are 7 in the overall standings … ”
Tomorrow will be another day and the Dakar leave Peru and its hospitality to enter Bolivia and join La Paz.
