Media Information
Silk Way Rally 2017
08 July 2017
Silk Way Rally 2017
– Leg 1: Moscow – Tcheboksary
- Both MINI John Cooper Works Rally cars in top five
- Yazeed Al Rajhi (KSA) completes Leg 1 in 4th
- Bryce Menzies (USA) in 5th with no gap to Al Rajhi.
Munich. The two MINI John Cooper Works Rally cars of Yazeed Al
Rajhi (KSA) and Bryce Menzies have completed the first 726.95km
stage of the 2017 Silk Way Rally, including a 61.43km special section
, in exactly the same time today.
The official ranking shows Al Rajhi in 4th position at the
finish line with new co-pilot Tom Colsoul in the #101 MINI John Cooper
Works Rally. While fellow MINI competitors, Bryce Menzies (USA) and
Peter Mortensen (USA) in the #105 MINI John Cooper Works Rally, are
ranked 5th despite having completed the stage in exactly
the same time as Al Rajhi.
Both drivers completed the first leg of the 15-day challenge in a
recorded time of 00:45:40. Al Rajhi and Colsoul started the day strong
in 2nd position but lost some time during the highly
technical middle section of today’s leg. However, he regained the
advantage by taking the lead in the final special stage of the day to
complete the leg in 4th place.
Menzies and Mortensen put in a more consistent performance across all
stages on their return to long distance rally driving, maintaining
4th place throughout the majority of the day before
slipping to 5th during the final stages.
Both drivers are encouraged by the results and have successfully used
the opening leg to perfect the final set-up of the MINI John Cooper
Works Rally.
Colsoul: “As expected, it was not the easiest stage
ever; the stage was difficult with a lot of mud, the road book was
difficult, the roads were not easy to see and this was the first time
that me and Yazeed have ever driven together. It was not an easy task
and me and Yazeed both made some mistakes but we did quite well and
can be happy with the result. We are looking forward now and focusing
on trying to drive and navigate without mistakes in the next stages
because the challenge of the Silk Way Rally is not going to get easier.”
Menzies: “Today’s stage was very slippery, wet grass
fields so we went off track a little bit but all in all everything
felt good. The car was good and we’re really looking forward to
tomorrow’s stage.”
Tomorrow’s Leg 2 will see the competitors complete 785.63km,
including a special stage of 157km, from Tcheboksary to Ufa.
Silk Way Rally 2017: Ranking after Leg 1