Four MINI ALL4 Racing crews complete demanding Silk Way Rally in top five. // Mikko Hirvonen claims podium with third place in Baja Aragon.

Press release

25 July 2016

 

Four MINI ALL4 Racing crews complete demanding Silk Way Rally
in top five. // Mikko Hirvonen claims podium with third place in
Baja Aragon.

 

Successful weekend of racing for MINI ALL4 Racing as all five
crews entered into the Silk Way Rally claim top ten positions and
both Baja Aragon competitors finish in the top five.

 

Munich.
Following yesterday’s official Silk Way Rally 2016 podium ceremony in
Beijing, the MINI ALL4 Racing crews have had time to reflect on the epic
14-stage rally that covered more than 10,000km and three countries in
two weeks. Most have agreed that the Moscow to Beijing event was tougher
and more demanding than this year’s world famous Dakar.

 

The MINI ALL4 Racing crews found the long days, difficult stages and
hot weather conditions of the Silk Way Rally more physically demanding
than this year’s Dakar. However, all were happy that the MINI ALL4
Racing was able to cope with all of those challenges, enabling four of
the five crews entered into the competition to finish in a top five
position overall. The remaining crew of Bauyrzhan Issabayev (KAZ) and
Vladimir Demyanenko (RUS) claimed a top ten position.

 

The leading MINI ALL4 Racing crew of Yazeed Al Rajhi (KSA) and Timo
Gottschalk (GER) in the #103 car for the X-raid Team were happy to
have finished runner-up overall and used the rally as a major learning
experience. They plan to return to the event and put their experience
to good use in contesting the title.

 

Al Rajhi said: “The Silk Way is a very nice rally and we are leaving
having had a good experience. The competition was strong and we
enjoyed it a lot even though some of the stages were very long and tough.”

 

Co-driver Gottschalk added: “It was a really great adventure to go
from Moscow to Beijing and there were some great surprises along the
way with really nice stages. For sure, it was a long rally though and,
I think, it was even harder than Dakar this year, with some difficult
navigation and very demanding stages.”

 

The third-placed Russian duo of Vladimir Vasilyev and Konstantin
Zhiltsov (X-raid Team #101) who performed consistently throughout also
enjoyed the experience, but were disappointed at the cancellation of
some early stages. The second leg from Kazan to Ufa was cancelled due
to torrential rain and the 11th leg from Dunhuang to Jiayuguan did not
go ahead due to a sandstorm.

 

Zhiltsov said: “It’s not good that some specials and stages were
cancelled, because in my opinion those sections were places that we
had an advantage – they were areas that I believe we would have
excelled. After the border, the Chinese Special was more suited to
buggies, but we continued to fight and did a good job and achieved the
maximum possible for this time. It has been an interesting rally and a
good learning experience with a lot of dunes to tackle. The Silk Rally
is a good race overall.”

 

The fourth-placed MINI ALL4 Racing crew of Harry Hunt (GB) and
Andreas Schulz (GER) in #105 agreed with Gottschalk’s assessment of
the event, with Hunt saying: “I’m kind of relieved it’s over but it’s
also a shame because it’s a great race. I personally found it harder
than the Dakar, with some of the stages being much trickier. The rally
really stepped up and went to a whole different level as soon as we
got into China, the heat was more intense and the stages and
conditions were harder but the scenery was amazing.”

 

Schulz added: “Silk Way has been a very tough rally and Harry’s
improvement has been fantastic; we barely made any mistakes. We
enjoyed having the opportunity to fight with the top crews and we have
the confidence now to fight in the top five at any race. For me, the
rally was much harder than expected and I was surprised how hot the
race was in China. Before we came, I said we’re going on holiday, but
there was no holiday!”

 

MINI ALL4 Racing newcomers Aidyn Rakhimbayev (KAZ) and Anton Nikolaev
(RUS) in the #106 car completed the rally in fifth place overall.

 

 

Silk Way Rally 2016: MINI ALL4 Racing Overall Final
Classification

 

 

 

Baja Aragon

 

Also in action over the weekend, were the MINI ALL4 Racing crews of
Mikko Hirvonen (FIN)/ Michel Périn (GER) and Orlando Terranova
(ARG)/Tom Colsoul (BEL) who raced in Spain’s Baja Aragon. Both
pairings secured a top five finish with Hirvonen finishing in third
position overall and Terranova two places behind in a closely-fought fifth.

Both drivers were among the quickest during the Special Stages on
Saturday, with Hirvonen ending the day in second position and
Terranova in fourth. However, Sunday saw both drivers drop back a
position in the overall standings.

 

Hirvonen: “We had a good weekend. I wanted to pressurise Carlos on
Sunday as he was just two minutes ahead; we made good progress until
we had a puncture. Unfortunately, this offered Nasser the opportunity
to also pass us. But we nonetheless made it to the podium.”

 

Baja Aragon 2016: MINI ALL4 Racing Overall Final
Classification

 

 

 

Find reports, photos and videos in high resolution of previous MINI
ALL4 Racing activity on the BMW Media Website by clicking here.