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 | Baja Spain: Italian team Traglio/Dominella best Nissan crew with 11th position.
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It was a close race until the last moment and as always full of small cracks, holes, and various other adventures. 46 of 76 cars made it to the finish line - including only three Nissan of the teams Traglio/Dominella (Italy, Pathfinder, Tecnosport), Inocencio/Velosa (Portugal, Navara) and Traglio/Di Persio (Italy, Patrol T2). But against the "Silk Way Rally", it was not the perfect race for the japanese brand.
The best Nissan-team and also best Italian crew were Maurizio Traglio/Maurice Dominella who managed to finish the race with the eleventh position overall. In the third and final stage on Sunday, Traglio gained a ninth and a tenth place overall succeeding in close with a detachment from the first of 45:40 minutes.
"The race was not easy, but beautiful" Traglio told after the Baja, "no longer the Baja twenty years ago, certainly, but this new formula, lighter, with 400 kms to go in one day, is definitely more human and allows many to engage in a good race." The team was slowed down by some punctures - "the many holes didn´t liked us."
The Portuguese "Red Line" Team of Francisco Inocencio and Pedro N. Velosa finished on 38th position with their Nissan Navara, 02:34:38 hours after the overall leader Filipe Campos in his X-raid BMW X3CC, also coming from Portugal.
The third Nissan, also from the Italian Tecnosport-team, finished as 43rd, 03:23:38 hours behind the winner. For Lorenzo Traglio the Baja Spain 2011 was a premiere - so the result with his Nissan Patrol 4.8 was also his first finish in his career. Together with his codriver Roberto di Persio he managed 52. position in the prologue and 35th in the first special.
On Sunday they overturned in a narrow curve, but thankfully the Italian crew of Valentino Bombelli and Daniele Fiorini (Mitsubishi Pajero T2) stopped and helped them so that they could finish as 43rd overall and 8th in T2-class (production cars).
2011/07/25 | 14:44 CET | ARTICLE: MR/SY/CARACCIOLO
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