Media Information
Silk Way Rally 2017
12 July 2017
Silk Way Rally 2017
– Leg 5: Astana – Semey
-
Bryce Menzies / Peter Mortensen move into top three overall
after third place finish in Leg 5. -
Yazeed Al Rajhi / Tom Colsoul complete Leg 5 in ninth and
return to the top 20 leader board.
Munich. The MINI John Cooper Works Rally (#105) of Bryce
Menzies (USA) and co-driver Peter Mortensen (USA) is now placed
third in the Silk Way Rally after a fast but challenging Leg 5. The
American pairing completed the 849.54km leg distance, including a
487.47km special stage, in third position to move up one place in
the overall rankings.
The day’s route followed magnificent lakes and landscapes, with a
combination of fast roads and difficult navigation.
Menzies: It was a long stage; the beginning was
really fast, high speed roads. The navigation was good and me and Pete
were really clicking along. The middle of the stage was a little bit
slower and towards the end the navigation was tough, but we picked it
back up in the last 100km and pushed to the finish. It was a really
strong day for us, we ended up third and we’re now third overall too.
The car was running great and we’re feeling really good for tomorrow.”
Yazeed Al Rajhi (KSA) and Tom Colsoul (BEL) completed the Leg in
ninth position to break back inside the top 20 on the leader board.
The duo, who are completing their first ever rally as team-mates in
the #101 MINI John Cooper Works Rally are now ranked 19th
overall and continue to improve their position daily despite setbacks
on Leg 2.
Colsoul: “Today was a very nice stage; a little bit
long, but nice. Navigation was extremely tough because of the long
grass and that made it a disastrous stage to start as the first or
second car. We were the grass machine for the other cars to open the
road by being in the front two, so the times were not great, but I
think we did well. It was a good stage for the trucks today as they
sit much higher but for me was a very good day. I’m very happy with
how I navigated, it was a fantastic exercise and even though it was
super difficult I managed and did well. I’m really happy even though
our current position is not what we hoped for.”
Tomorrow’s Leg 6, Semey – Urdzhar, will cover 597.13km, of which
387.86km is special stage, that takes in many changes of direction and
small, tricky off-track sections.
Silk Way Rally 2017: Ranking after Leg 5