Dakar : Team Galp Energia - Leg 5Today, Team Galp Energia was heading south, towards Tan Tan, the end point of the fifth leg. Carlos Sousa, with his Nissan Navara, set the 12th fastest time, and is now lying thirteenth in the overall classification. No punctures today, and a good pace, without any excesses. Before reaching Mauritania tomorrow, Team Galp Energia is serene.
Today`s special stage saw alternating fast and rough passages. A typical timed stage for Morocco.
Finished the stage in 12th position, Carlos Sousa and Jean Marie Lurquin preferred to look after their vehicle :
« This year, the Morocco stages are nothing like those we had last year. They are very rough, and hard on the vehicles, and I am rather surprised that the organisers chose such a difficult route to start the event. The teams which chose Morocco for their test sessions apparently are not having the same problems as us. Our Navara does not yet have the right suspension set-up, the car is still jumping a lot at the back, even if we have been able to make a few improvements. I am completely satisfied with the front suspension now, but we still need to adjust the rear. By the time we arrive in Guinea and Senegal, our car will be 100% efficient…
Concerning today`s stage, we chose not to push, because there were a lot of rocky tracks, and we did not want to have any more punctures. And it paid off; we had a quiet day, without stopping at all during the special stage. OK, we are quite a bit behind the factory cars, but I think they have made a lot of progress, they were really on their favourite test ground…»
Tomorrow, the rally will be heading for Mauritania, including the crossing of the famous ‘wall` which acts as the frontier between South Morocco and Mauritania. A special stage nearly 450 km on, over a route using wide tracks to start with, then over sand. The competitors will reach the Zouerat bivouac after a short 12 km liaison section.
Tags:
galp-energia,
nissan,
navara,
dakar,
carlos-sousa,
leg-five,
nissan,
