8/3/2019 Press CS 2jan ETAPA2 Dakar2012 - Ing

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Monday, 2nd January 2012

A flat tire and a problem with the drivers door

cause Carlos Sousas delay in the second stage

After an excellent and promising beginning in the race, with the sixth best time overall

in the opening stage of the Dakar 2012, Carlos Sousa faced today the first setbacks in

the second special stage, in a total of 295 km, from Santa Rosa del Atacama to San

Rafael, in Argentina.

There were too many little troubles for just one day, complained the official driver

of Team Great Wall Motors, at the end of a tough and very hot stage in which he

finished in 11th, 17m08s after the fastest driver.

The setbacks began only a few kilometers after the start, precisely in the fastest part of

the whole stage, but where Carlos Sousa lost precious minutes, since he was forced to

stop in order to lock the drivers door of his Great Wall SUV Haval which opened to

every bump of the road or change of direction. It was quite an odd situation, but it

sometimes happens to the best teams! Worse than the stop was the loss of pace and

also some concentration at the beginning of the race, explained the Portuguese

driver at the arrival.

Despite everything, Carlos Sousa managed to be among the 10 fastest drivers fairly

until the middle of the stage, losing about 1m52s to the virtual leader until km 170.

Soon after that Carlos Sousa would carry out a new long stop in the track, this time due

to a flat tire:

It was shortly before driving through the dunes, in an area of many hops and slopes

and at a time when the suspension had lost some efficiency due to the heat. Here we

really lost a lot of time, maybe about 7 to 8 minutes, because I had my door locked

and had to get out through the co-drivers side. It was a time-consuming and weary

operation as far as the physical aspect is concerned, because it was about 45 degrees

outside added Carlos Sousa, who mentioned again some discomfort related to the

driving position of his car.

Until the end of the stage, we forced the pace a little and managed to make up forsome lost time. However, at the end, in an area of rocks, we decided not to take risks

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8/3/2019 Press CS 2jan ETAPA2 Dakar2012 - Ing

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fearing another flat tire. In short, it was a stage than I wont miss, due to the chain of

little problems we had to face since the beginning, which took us some

concentration. But tomorrow is a new day and the time lost at this phase does not

cause us much concern considering our goals, concluded the Portuguese driver, who

occupies the 11th

place overall after this stage, but only 1m54 from a place in the Top-

10.

Tomorrow, Tuesday, the difficulties may increase in the stage that will connect SanRafael to San Juan, a distance of 499 km, from which 208 make up the third special

stage of this Dakar 2012.

Approaching the Andes Mountain range, the landscape is bound to be breathtaking,

but the day will bring hard work to drivers and co-drivers, due both to the

concentration needed along the narrow mountain tracks, and the expertise required

to go across the many rivers, where the rocks must be avoided at all cost.

STAGE 2

Cl. Driver/Co-driver Car Time/Dif.1st Peterhansel/Cottret MINI 2h48m12s

2nd Gordon/Campbell Hummer + 1m48s

3rd Holowczyc/Fortin MINI + 2m37s

4th Roma/Prin MINI + 3m21s

5th De Villiers/Von Zitzewitz Toyota + 3m43s

()

11th SOUSA/GARCIN GREAT WALL + 16m24s

31 ZHOU/MAIMON GREAT WALL + 1h03m33s

OVERALL AFTER STAGE 2

Cl. Driver/Co-driver Car Time/Dif.

1st Peterhansel/Cottret MINI 3h20m33s

2nd Gordon/Campbell Hummer + 2m28s

3rd Holowczyc/Fortin MINI + 2m33s

4th De Villiers/Von Zitzewitz Toyota + 3m49s

5th Roma/Prin MINI + 5m32s

()

11th SOUSA/GARCIN GREAT WALL + 17m07s

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