Volkswagen trio, average speed 119,9 km/h, wins three first places again during this stage

Nasser Al-Attiyah first, Mauricio Neves second, and Carlos Sainz third. Until today, the only day that wasn’t dominated by the Touaregs trio was the second, when Mauricio Neves and Eduardo Bampi fell in a cattle grid and forfeited.

But during today’s special, almost everything happened normally for the German team. Nasser Al-Attiyah/ Timo Gottschalk drove in a strong pace from the very beginning, he passed by the first checkpoint in 50 minutes and finished the special in 2h30min57s. Carlos Sainz/ Lucas Cruz had a little problem with the turbo hose and lost some time fixing it.

The Brazilian pair seems to be getting along well. In 2h33min58s, Mauricio Neves and Eduardo Bampi drove fast, averaging 117 km/h and had the second best time of the day, taking a large step towards the three best places in general classification. “It was a fast special. One or two trial sections over sand, but 99% of the time I was stepping hard. The Touareg is a weak car. Its maximum speed is 180 km/h and it doesn’t go any faster. I always drive at Eu 180 km/h”, joked Mauricio Neves. Today, they are the 10th place.

Check out today’s results, and then the general classification.

1) Nasser Al-Attiyah/ Timo Gottschalk – 2h30min57s
2) Mauricio Neves/ Eduardo Bampi – 2h33min58s
3) Carlos Sainz/ Lucas Cruz – 2h41min01s
4) Riamburgo Ximenes/ Stanger Eller – 2h50min02s
5) Jean Azevedo/ Youssef Haddad – 2h52min24s

Accumulated classification

1) Nasser Al-Attiyah/ Timo Gottschalk – 17h22min36s
2) Carlos Sainz/ Lucas Cruz – 17h34min27s
3) Jean Azevedo/ Youssef Haddad – 19h12min06s