Dakar : Team Galpia Energia - Leg 9They said it was going to be awful, and all the predictions came true. This ninth leg between Nouakchott and Kiffa was very hard, long and tiring. Carlos Sousa, with his Nissan Navara, was able to limit the damage, but was not very satisfied with his performance. Getting stuck in the sand, and having difficulties with the waypoints, today was an ‘off` day. But despite everything, Team Galp Energia is still in 9th position overall.
Sand, dunes and plenty of time with the shovels, that was the day`s schedule for those still in the race in this 28th edition of the Dakar. A really difficult day. Carlos Sousa was far from unhappy to have finished…
« It was really very difficult today. We started off well, and passed CP1 and CP2 among the leaders.
But between CP2 and CP3, we went slightly to the right of the ideal heading, and we found ourselves in very soft white sand. It was really not the best place to cross. We let our tyres down as much as possible, and had to get out the planks a number of times before we got out of that bad situation.
Then, we were facing the wrong way for the obligatory waypoint that was in the middle of the dunes, and we had to do at least 15 kilometres extra in order to pass the waypoint.
The end of the stage was quieter, but we already knew that it was not our day, and we finished a bit disillusioned.
Because of all those detours, we were a bit close on fuel, and we had a few problems finishing the 245 km liaison to Kiffa ; luckily our rapid assistance car was following us, and was able to help us out. »
Tomorrow, the rally will head into Mali, and will finish the 10th stage in Kayes. The stage will be relatively short, just 283 km. The sand and dunes will be replaced by brushwood and thicker vegetation. The rally is moving into another phase, the final destination of which will be Dakar.
Tags:
galp-energia,
nissan,
navara,
dakar,
carlos-sousa,
leg-nine,
