The “Three Kingdoms Interpretation” of Russia, Mongolia and China in the 2019 Silk Road Rally is about to open the last and most exciting chapter. Goodbye, Russia’s Lake Baikal and the muddy birch forest stage; goodbye, Mongolia’s countless cattle and sheep, and the vast and vast prairie. For all cross-country rally drivers, it is no longer speed, but technology. The upcoming Alxa Desert is the most difficult and interesting challenge, and it is also the most critical part that determines the results of this competition.
The sixth stage on July 12 is also the last stage in Mongolia. The riders came from Mandalay Gobi to Dharamzadagad, the capital of South Gobi Province. The stage with a total length of 411.75 kilometers is unfolded in the wide grassland. The stage is very similar to all previous Mongolian routes. The difficulty lies in the correct navigation. The main task of the crew is to keep up with the road book. It is often necessary to adjust the driving direction and follow the marks in the road book. After all, it is not the picturesque scenery behind the windshield that brings you back to the finish line, but the road book that has been turned over and over again.
In the car group, with his extraordinary stability and speed, as well as his impeccable navigation, Al Attia continued to win the league championship and continued to expand his advantage in the overall leaderboard. In this rally race, no one can challenge him, except himself. And if the famous Qatari general does not destroy the Great Wall, then the biggest suspense is no longer the championship, but the runner-up and third place. Everything is still possible until the actual desert stage begins. In this stage, the sudden emergence of the Dutch driver Van Luen was impressive. He started in 12th place and finally won the runner-up of the stage with a difference of 3 points. He said after the race: “Because I was speeding in the speed limit zone of the stage yesterday, I received a time penalty, and finally led to the 12th start today. This starting order also caused us to encounter a lot of smoke in the first half of the stage. In the first half of the race, we struggled to catch up, and we were about 3 minutes behind Attia. In the second half of the stage, it started to rain, and the strong wind finally helped us clear the smoke and dust from the truck. I ran very fast in the second half, which I have never run before. Such a fast second half! I am very satisfied today.”
As for the Chinese drivers, Han Wei Motorsports continued to show their strength collectively, occupying six of the top ten places in this stage, and also occupied half of the TOP10 in the overall score list. After the sixth stage, Liu Kun of Shaanxi Yunxiang Racing Team and French driver Pachelet continued to maintain the top three positions. Han Wei, Zi Yungang, Zhang Ming, Sun Ping and Zi Rong followed closely behind, and they seemed to have shown their strength in advance before entering the familiar Chinese stage.
The competition in the sixth stage of the motorcycle group was extremely fierce. Spanish driver Mena Oriol of the Indian HEROMOTOSPORTS team, who participated for the first time this season, made a big splash in this stage and won the stage championship. Portuguese driver Tommy from ORLEN TEAM ranked second with a difference of only 16 seconds. Spanish driver Juan Barred finished third in the stage with a gap of 3 minutes and 3 seconds. In the overall ranking of the motorcycle group, after 6 stages, the British star Sam Sunderland still ranked first, and the dark horse driver Mena Oriol of the HEROMOTOSPORTS team ranked second with a gap of 21 minutes and 10 seconds. Luciano Benavidez of Argentina was third.
In the truck group, Viazovic, the driver of the Manz team who ranked third in the fifth stage, won the championship in one go. The competition for the runner-up was intense between the Kamaz team. Sparov ranked second with a difference of only 27 seconds, while his teammate Maltif ranked third with a difference of only 1 second. In the overall score list of the truck group, Viazovic of the Manz team still takes the first place, and the two drivers of the Kamaz team, Sbarov and Kakinov, have the same ranking as the fifth stage. Ranked second and third in the overall score list.
Tomorrow’s stage
Stage 7: Connecting stages
There is no special stage today, and the main force of the event will enter China from Mongolia.
