Media Information
Silk Way Rally 2017
09 July 2017
Silk Way Rally 2017
– Leg 2: Tcheboksary – Ufa
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Bryce Menzies (USA) moves up to 4th overall after
Leg 2. - Al Rajhi loses time after slipping into a hole.
Munich. Bryce Menzies (USA) and Peter Mortensen (USA) in the
#105 MINI John Cooper Works Rally have completed the difficult
second leg of the 2017 Silk Way Rally in 4th place
overall, despite challenging conditions on the demanding terrain of
the Grand Kazan Track.
The highly technical, narrow track of Stage 2 was made even more
challenging by heavy rain adding to the slippery grass surface, but
the American pairing played it safe for the majority of the day’s
race. Their caution paid off, with Menzies and Mortensen moving up one
place from 5th in the overall rankings to 4th at the end of
Leg 2.
Mortensen: “Stage 2 was very difficult today; there
was a lot of rain and a lot of slippery grass fields the same as stage
1 yesterday. It was very tough. We played it cautious at the beginning
and made up quite a lot of time but then towards the end we slid off
and hit a ditch but the car still ran perfectly, so we just played it
safe from there. We ended up 4th so we’re feeling good and
looking forward to stage 3.”
The second MINI John Cooper Works Rally pairing of Yazeed Al Rajhi
(KSA) and Tom Colsoul (BEL) in the #101 car were less fortunate today
as they fell victim to one of the hidden holes mentioned in the day’s
race description. With just 30km remaining in the Stage, they slipped
into a 2m hole and had to wait for help, incurring a penalty of
05:50:00 and pushing Al Rajhi from 4th in the overall
standings to 41st.
Colsoul: “I think it was a big mistake for all of the
cars to go on the stage today; it was slippery from the first metre to
the last and it felt dangerous. The stage times reflect the
difficulties, but we managed. We went off a couple of times but
nothing too bad. At 120km there was a modification and in the part
that was replaced there was a small hole in the road to the left but
there was also a huge crack in the right of the road that was not
mentioned. We tried to avoid the hole and then we went into a ditch
that we didn’t know was there and, of course, we couldn’t get out. We
had to wait for local guys and they needed two tractors to get us out,
which cost us 2 hours. It’s a pity.”
Tomorrow’s Leg 3 will see the competitors cross the border into
Kazakhstan as they complete 876.39km, including a special stage of
329.95km, from Ufa to Kostanay.
Silk Way Rally 2017: Ranking after Leg 2