Three MINI ALL4 Racing perfectly placed inside top five after two stages of 2016 Sealine Cross Country Rally (Qatar) – round 3 of the 2016 FIA Cross Country World Cup.

Press release

20 April 2016

 

Three MINI ALL4 Racing perfectly placed inside top five after
two stages of 2016 Sealine Cross Country Rally (Qatar) – round 3 of
the 2016 FIA Cross Country World Cup.

 

On form Yazeed Al Rajhi (KSA) // Timo Gottschalk (GER) comfortable in
second place. MINI ALL4 Racing also fill third and fourth places.

 

Munich. The three MINI ALL4 Racing competing in the
2016 Sealine Cross Country Rally (Qatar) are neatly lined up for a
battle royal as the competitors enter the last three stages of this
spectacular long distance desert rally.

 

After a successful first outing this year at the recent Abu Dhabi
Desert Challenge (Round 2), the MINI ALL4 Racing (#202) pairing of
Yazeed Al Rajhi (KSA) //co-driver Timo Gottschalk (GER) continue their
fine form by completing the first day (Stage 1, 18-04-2016) in second
place. Stage 2 (19-04-2016) saw a repeat second place finish to
maintain second overall.

 

Speaking after Stage 1, Al Rajhi said: “This is the first time on
these tracks for me with the MINI All4 Racing and it was a good stage.
We did a good job while we are still learning the car, so there is
more to come.”

 

As expected, the fine desert sands and harsh rocks took their toll on
many competitors. Delays from punctures and getting bogged down in
loose sand meant the drivers had to maintain their wits. Once again
the vastly experienced Russian pairing of Vladimir Vasilyev and
Konstantin Zhiltsov raced with determination to complete Stage one in
fifth. After an intense battle for the leading places during Stage 2,
Vasilyev completed the stage by placing his MINI ALL4 Racing #203
third to take third place overall after day two.

 

The MINI ALL4 Racing (#205) of Ricardo Porém (POR) and Tom Colsoul
(BEL) made an exceptional start to the 2016 Sealine Cross Country
Rally with a superb third place at the end of the Stage 1. This result
is even more stunning when taking into account this is Porém’s first
ever long-distance desert cross country rally. This result combined
with a fine seventh place in Stage 2 places Porém fourth overall with
three stages to complete.

 

2016
Sealine Cross Country Rally
: MINI ALL4 Racing positions after Stage 2

 

 

 

Race calendar: 2016 FIA World Cup for Cross Country Rallies.

 

19/02 – 22/02 Baja Russia
02/04 – 7/04 Abu Dhabi Desert
Challenge
17/04 – 22/04 Sealine Cross-Country Rally Qatar
08/05 – 15/05 Pharaons Rally
23/06 – 26/06 Italian Baja
22/07 – 24/07 Baja Aragón
11/08 – 14/08 HunGarian Baja

25/08 – 28/08 Baja Poland

03/10 – 08/10 Rallye Oilibya du Maroc
21/10 – 23/10 Baja
Portalegre 500

 

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