8/3/2019 Press CS 4jan ETAPA4 Dakar2012 - Ing

1/2

Wednesday, 4th January 2012

Carlos Sousa rises to the 8th position overall

one second behind the winner of last edition

The Portuguese driver of Team Great Wall Motors keeps working his way up andrepeated today the sixth place achieved in the first stage, recovering more than one

position overall and reducing the distance to three of his most direct opponents

In what was perhaps the most selective stage of this Dakar 2012, with 327km full of

small traps and subtle changes of direction, Carlos Sousa appeared in good shape

recovered from the flu that affected him the day before , repeating the sixth position

from the opening stage and reaching the eighth position overall, only one secondbehind the seventh, who was the winner of last edition.

It was a very demanding and particularly tough stage in the first phase, where I

chose to play it safe to avoid a puncture, something that has been recurring on the

last two days. After we reached a top almost 3.500m high, we gradually increased

our pace and manage to accomplish what is for now our best stage in this Dakar,

after the minor setbacks from the last days, summarized Carlos Sousa when he

arrived at Chilecito, the Argentinian province of La Roja, at the end of tonight.

In a stage with more than 400 navigation notes run once again under high

temperature, the Portuguese driver made use of his large consistency and expertise to

avoid many traps along the track and increase the pace enough to climb some

positions overall and reduce the distance to three of his most direct opponent, on a

day he lost a little more than one minute to the leader of the race at the beginning of

this morning stage:

I am getting used to the car as each day goes by and naturally I feel more and more

confident. ~I have been making some changes to the set-up of my SUV Haval, trying

to find a solution to the cars rear end tendency to slipIt hasnt been easy, because

even the team is still learning to handle the car. Apart from that, the greatest

difficulty has been keeping a constant pace under this scorching heat! Fortunately

http://www.pressaporter.pt/

8/3/2019 Press CS 4jan ETAPA4 Dakar2012 - Ing

2/2

my fever is gone, and I didnt have any distracted driver blocking my way, so I could

drive more focused, in a stage that also demanded hard work in terms of

navigation, completed the driver of Team Great Wall Motors, enhancing the good

performance of his recent co-driver, the French driver Jean-Pierre Garcin.

A special remark to the excellent 21st position achieved by his team mate, the Chinese

driver Zhou Yong, that has been gradually recovering positions overall after the long

delay in the opening stage.

Tomorrow, Thursday, the drivers will run the last stage of this edition in Argentinian

territory, between Chilecito and Fimbal, in a total of 423 km. Once again the

Organization set a different track for each category, so that the special stage is 177 km

long for the cars and trucks and 265 km long for bikes and quads.

Either way, all competitors must pay increased attention, in order to avoid navigation

mistakes, on a track where the main difficulties for the cars and trucks are hidden in

the sand.

STAGE 4

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

1st Peterhansel/Cottret MINI 3h49m33s

2nd Terranova/Grider Toyota + 5m19s

3rd De Villiers/Von Zitzewitz Toyota + 6m42s

4th Roma/Prin MINI + 7m35s

5th Holowczyc/Fortin MINI + 10m51s

6th SOUSA/GARCIN GREAT WALL + 11m40s

21st ZHOU/MAIMON GREAT WALL + 36m15s

OVERALL AFTER STAGE 4

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

1st Peterhansel/Cottret MINI 9h43m20s

2nd De Villiers/Von Zitzewitz Toyota + 5m41s

3rd Roma/Prin MINI + 6m44s

4th Holowczyc/Fortin MINI + 8m10s

5th Gordon/Campbell Hummer + 16m23s

()

8th SOUSA/GARCIN GREAT WALL + 30m45s

58th ZHOU/MAIMON GREAT WALL + 5h27m35s

http://www.pressaporter.pt/