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 | Sertoes 2010: Franciosi on the lead in cars and Marcos Cassol in trucks.
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The first day out of ten of the greatest Brazilian off-road adventure happened today with 203 km from Goiânia to Caldas Novas, split into 34 of initial liaison, 133 km of special, and 36 final liaison. Bikes, quads, cars and trucks were greeted by a very special audience: students of municipal schools, which had their classes dismissed in order to greet the competitors of the world’s second largest rally.
The fastest of the day among cars was the Sherpa of the duo João Antonio Franciosi / Rafael Capoani with 1h43min09s0. "Since it was the first day, I think it was a very hard special. In the beginning we had a little oil-leaking problem, but we got around. The route today was very cool, fast, with jumps and also some slow sections. We have been learning along the way, and now we will work to solve this little problem, because the Sertões is quite long," said the experienced Franciosi.
The first runner-up duo were Jean Azevedo / Emerson Cavassini, team Petrobrás / Lubrax with 1h45min20s. "Although short, the special today was pretty tough. We had no problem and tried to manage the pace, since we have a long way ahead of us," he said.
Back to Sertões after three years away, Paulo Nobre had a good debut with his BMW X3CC, which he shares with Luiz Carlos Palu. "It was a good first day, a Sertões’ classic: short and seeming pretty tranquil, but nothing like that. There were many rapid sections, requiring heavy braking into tight corners. The first day is very easy for a driver to risk too much, and there’s no use having a plane in hand if the driver is not tuned up with the equipment, which is my case right now. I'm still rusty after missing three editions of the Rally. This is not a joke," said Palmeirinha.
Trucks - Rodrigo Mello, Davi Fonseca and Marcos Cassol confirmed their adaptation to the trucks category - that they demonstrated in the first stage of the Rally Series in Avaré (SP) - and nailed the best time of the day among the trucks, with 2h01min33s9. "It was a great special for the development of teamwork and also to tune up the equipment. Now we have to hand the truck to the mechanics for some minor adjustments. I'm fascinated with the first day competing with the heavies. It was wonderful. It is good to tame the giant" said Marcos, whose brother, Vanderlei, placed third.
After them, the experienced Amable Barrasa scored 2h02min16s2 alongside Guilherme Signoretti and Raphael Bettoni. "It was a good day, not too hard. It was ideal for us to adjust within the team and achieve some rapport, since it is the first time that Guilherme (Signoretti) navigates for me. The equipment passed the test in the first day, but we always have something to adjust. These adjustments are normal for the initial stage of the race."
André Azevedo/Maykel Justo/Ronaldo Pinto finished fourth in overall trucks, but placed first in the "Heavy" category, followed by the trio Guido Salvini/Weidner Moreira/Fernando Chwaigert.
2010/08/12 | 21:57 CET | Editor: MR/HS/DUNAS
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