Dakar 2016: Remarkable Dakar debut for Hirvonen

• Hirvonen / Périn – the fastest MINI ALL4 Racing pairing – finish fifth
• Mud hole costs Roma and Terranova a lot of time

Mikko Hirvonen secured the really fine fifth place, in his first true Dakar special stage. In the bivouac he said: “On the one hand I am really happy with today’s achievements but on the other, I also am slightly frustrated.
I still miss the pace notes I am used to from my WRC days. I braked while approaching every single corner and hill as I just don’t know what I will have to face behind them. I just have to learn that everybody has to cope with this situation,” admitted the Finn who completed today’s special stage without making any mistakes. “But I didn’t take any risks and having finished fifth represents a very good initial position for tomorrow.” 

So far, the weather conditions make a massive impact on the course of the Dakar. After the cancellation of yesterday’s stage, today’s special stage had to be shortened. But even the track of the shortened route was often flooded and Al-Attiyah got stuck in a mud hole at kilometre 183 – but fortunately succeeded in getting going again after three minutes. “This was a difficult day,” he said. “And after we had disengaged from the mud, a damaged tyre added to our problems. But I’m not worried, to date. Tomorrow we want to push and make up for the lost ground.”

For Nani Roma and Orlando Terranova, however, this mud hole proved to be disastrous: Terranova lost more than 30 minutes compared to Loeb, the current leader, and Roma even had to cope with losing 45 minutes. “I already was on the grass next to the mud but there were too many spectators – and when I got them I got stuck in the mud. Throughout the liaison section I asked myself why this spot wasn’t mentioned in the road book.” A short time later, Terranova also got stuck. “It was a disaster. We tried everything to disengage ourselves. Then Malysz came, pulled us out of the mud and afterwards I helped Nani. This was anything but a good start for us.”

Malysz finished 15th in his first Dakar special stage, with his MINI ALL4 Racing. “It wasn’t easy for me, today,” he revealed, “I didn’t find my rhythm, in the early stages. “Sometimes we were fast, sometimes slow. Then, Nani and Orly were standing in the mud. I towed Orly out of it and I think he afterwards helped Nani. Later we were racing at a good pace but then we lost our way and had to drive back. But altogether I’m rather happy.”

Tomorrow’s 663-kilometre stage will take the field further to the north, to Jujuy – with the special-stage distance amounting to 349 kilometres. The route across the mountains will feature tight, winding tracks.

Result 2nd stage
1st S. Loeb (FRA) / D. Elena (MCO) Peugeot – 3h 45m 46s
2nd S. Peterhansel (FRA) / J.-P. Cottret (FRA) Peugeot – 3h 48m 09s
3rd V. Vasilyev (RUS) / K. Zhiltsov (RUS) Toyota – 3h 48m 24s
4th G. de Villiers (ZAF) / D. von Zitzewitz (GER) – 3h 48m 47s
5th M. Hirvonen (FIN) / M. Périn (FRA) MINI ALL4 Racing – 3h 48m 51s
...
8th N. Al-Attiyah (QAT) / M. Baumel (FRA) MINI ALL4 Racing – 3h 50m 04s
...
13th E. van Loon (NDL) / W. Rosegaar (NDL) MINI ALL4 Racing – 3h 56m 52s
...
15th A. Malysz (POL) / X. Panseri (FRA) MINI ALL4 Racing – 3h 57m 53s
16th H. Hunt (GBR) / A. Schulz (GER) MINI ALL4 Racing – 3h 58m 06s
17th J. Przygonski (POL) / A. Rudnitski (BLR) MINI ALL4 Racing – 3h 58m 13s
...
19th B. Garafulic (CHL) / F. Palmeiro (POR) MINI ALL4 Racing – 4h 01m 46s
20th N. Lopez (ARG) / S. Lafuente (URU) MINI ALL4 Racing – 4h 02m 00s
...
28th O. Terranova (ARG) / B. Graue (ARG) MINI ALL4 Racing – 4h 15m 22s
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44th J. Roma (ESP) / A. Haro (ESP) MINI ALL4 Racing – 4h 32m 34s
...
52nd G. Chicherit (FRA) / A. Winocq (FRA) Buggy – 4h 39m 24s
...
tba. S. Schott (GER) / H. Schmidt (GER) MINI ALL4 Racing

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