Taklimakan Stage 8: Binglong Lu and Pascual win stage 8. Stage 9 cancelled

Gepubliceerd op: 12-06-2018 21:32

The last timed section (9) of 2018 Taklimakan Rally, initially planned to be tomorrow, was cancelled by the organization. The standings will only be approved at the end of the rally by the Race Director. Barring surprises, Han Wei / Liao Min (Geely) and Armand Monleón (KTM) should claim 2018 Taklimakan Rally victory.

Stage 8: CHANGJI > CHANGJI : 595,15 km | Liaison : 164,38 km | SS : 375,29 km | Liaison : 55,48 km

Stage 8, 595,15 kilometers long, was designed as a loop around Changji. Competitors have crossed the Gurbantunggut desert where they faced small dunes crossing and gravel tracks. The timed section, 375,29 km long, was competed in a very high pace, an average speed of 123 kmh for the best cars.

In being fifteen minutes quicker than Han Wei / Liao Min (Geely), only fifth, the Chinese crew of BAIC Lu Binglong / Sha He is getting closer in the overall standing. The third position of the day is for the French duo Christian Lavieille / Jean-Pierre Garcin (BAIC), third in the overall as well. The loser of this final round is the crew Zi Yungang / Wang Zengrong (Geely), second this morning. The teammates of Han Wei and Liao Min in Geely Auto Coopetires abandoned all hope for a win of Taklimakan Rally because of a roll-over luckily without gravity.

The goal this morning for the Daming KTMR2R Rally team was to keep its one-two-three position in the overall standing. Armand Monleón, Zhang Min and Zhao Hongyi decided to ride together during the whole stage in order to be more reactive in case of problems. This team strategy of the KTM motorbikes was benefic for Pablo Pascual (Zongshen) who grabs the victory of the stage. The Argentinian rider is still fourth of the overall, before Eric Schiano who will finish the race in the Top 5.

Competitors will join Ürümqi tomorrow morning by the road where the winners of each category will officially be celebrated.

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Taklimakan Stage 7: Han Wei and Monleon win again, Lavieille is back

After taking advantage of a second rest day in Hami, 2018 Taklimakan Rally competitors headed North of Xinjiang province toward Changji, a city close to Mongolian border. The leaders of the overall classification, Han Wei/Liao Min (Geely) in cars and Armand Monleón (KTM) in motorbikes, were the fastest in this transition stage. Upon further deliberation, the stewards have decided the cancellation of the 30’ penalties imposed to the crews Christian Lavieille/Jean-Pierre Garcin (BAIC), Lu Binglong/Sha He (BAIC) and Liu Kun/Wu Dajun (Geely) after stage 6. The short selective section of the day, 103,26 kilometers long, proposed a kind of field the competitors did not encounter yet. Steppes surrounded by mountains and narrow tracks of the North of Xinjiang province have replaced the dunes and sandy tracks of the East of the area. These stony and broken tracks have resulted in many tire punctures especially in car category. The duo Han Wei/Liao Min (Geely) continues to increase his leadership in winning his fourth victory in the 2018 Taklimakan Rally. The crew of the yellow buggy #105 shows that it will be very difficult to take them out the first place of the overall ranking. Christian Lavieille and Jean-Pierre Garcin (BAIC) finished second even though they got stuck in the dust of the other cars during more than twenty kilometers. The French duo is now third in the overall ranking thanks to the cancellation of his penalty. The second buggy Zi Yungang / Wang Zengrong (Geely) is still second after achieving once again a very good performance in finishing third of the stage. The eighth and penultimate stage of 2018 Taklimakan Rally will take place tomorrow on Tuesday June 12th. Competitors will compete in a timed section of 375,29 kilometers long designed as a loop around Changji. Competitors will cross the Gurbantunggut desert in a very fast stage with some crossing dunes. 68 cars/trucks and 13 bikes/ATVs are still in the race to reach Ürümqi on June 13th. Provisional classification of stage 7 / Car 1. Han Wei (CHN) / Liao Min (CHN), Geely, 1h14’32’’2. Christian Lavieille (FRA) / Jean-Pierre Garcin (FRA), BAIC, + 5’’3. Zi Yungang (CHN) / Wang Zengrong (CHN), Geely, + 1’07’’4. Niu Bandin (CHN) / Fang Mingji (CHN), SMG, + 1’07’’5. Zhong Lei (CHN) / Li Gand (CHN), Buggy, + 1’40’’14. Rémy Vauthier (CH) / Jean Brucy (FRA), Optimus + 11’51’’ Provisional overall classification after stage 7 / Car 1. Han Wei (CHN) / Liao Min (CHN), Geely, 20h35’26’’2. Zi Yungang (CHN) / Wang Zengrong (CHN), Geely, + 9’04’’3. Christian Lavieille (FRA) / Jean-Pierre Garcin (FRA), BAIC, + 11’38’’4. Lu Binglong (CHN) / Sha He (CHN), BAIC, + 16’52’’5. Liu Yangui (CHN) / Hongyu Pan (CHN), BAIC, + 23’30’’42. Rémy Vauthier (CH) / Jean Brucy (FRA), Optimus, + 98h49’34’’ Provisional classification of stage 7 / Motorbike 1. Armand Monleón (ESP), KTM, 1h27’00’’2. Zhang Min (CHN), KTM, + 4’33’’3. Wang Yun (CHN), Husqvarna, + 7’23’’4. Zhao Hongyi (CHN), KTM, + 11’03’’5. Pablo Pascual (ARG), Zongshen, + 13’14’’8. Eric Schiano (FRA), Zongshen, + 30’31’’ Provisional overall classification after stage 7 / Motorbike 1. Armand Monleón (ESP), KTM, 25h14’41’’2. Zhang Min (CHN), KTM, + 1h35’13’’3. Zhao Hongyi (CHN), KTM, + 1h53’00’’5. Eric Schiano (FRA), Zongshen, + 4h33’07’’

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