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 | Dakar 2010: Terranova with best result for JMB Mitsubishi.
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The total distance of yesterday’s stage was 434 km bringing all the competitors from Argentina to Chile. The native driver of the JMB Stradale Off Road team, Orlando Terranova, along with his French co-driver Pascal Maimon came in 2nd place at only 30 seconds from today’s stage winner, Guerlain Chicherit.
The team was very happy with his results and slowly but surely the results are getting better. With much satisfaction, the co-driver, Mimoune, gives a short explanation of his day: "At first we were surprised as we thought that the motor would suffer with the altitude due to the lack of horse power. But in fact it was the navigation which was the hardest. It was impossible to make a mistake if we were to keep up the pace. It was a really good day and our results give us entire satisfaction."
Six minutes later, Nicolas Misslin and Jean-Michel Polato finished the time clocked section in 8th position. They move into 13th place in the general ranking" With a smile on his face, the President of the JMB Stradale Off Road team relates his point of view: "We did not start in a great position however the car performed well and it’s always a big pleasure to finish in front of Carlos Sainz, the ex WRC champion. This proves that our cars are performant, reliable, and that we have a good motor."
Sousa-Baumel arrive in 10th place of the stage and maintain their 6th place. Matthieu Baumel comments his day during his massage session: “We started out slowly as we only had two spare tires and we were almost to light. On top of this, the navigation was intense therefore we came arrived in a good place even if we could have attacked a little more."
Guilherme Spinelli and Filipe Palmeiro obtain the 12th position and they are now only 5 minutes in front of Terranova-Maimon with their 8th place in the general ranking. "We drove carefully", explains Filipe Palmeiro. "We obtained the 12th place without a problem and the rhythm is perfect for us. Our biggest threat is Terranova who is climbing up rapidly."
The tandem Barbosa and Ramalho come in 13th of the day and 12th in the general. Miguel Barbosa comments: "All went well except for the last 30 km where an alarm on the motor went off during the third stage. We alternated between the first and second gas pump and the mechanics will try to fix the problem for tomorrow."
The finish is approaching fast however the competitors must remain concentrated as stage 12 will be the longest of the rally with a total distance of 796 km. The timed section will be 476 km leaving the dinosaur region to find small canyons and other wonders. In order to avoid the natural and protected sites, the timed section will be divided into two.
2010/01/14 | 12:53 CET | Editor: MR/HS/JMB
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