press cs 3jan etapa3 dakar2012 - ing

8/3/2019 Press CS 3jan ETAPA3 Dakar2012 - Ing

1/3

Tuesday, 3rd January 2012

Carlos Sousa gets two places overall

back to top-10 despite a strong flu

In spite of having the flu, Carlos Sousa got on well in the difficult stage today, wherehe got two places overall and the position of best Portuguese driver among the cars.

Unfortunately he lost time behind an inattentive Argentinian driver and also on a

stop to change another flat tire

In a physically very demanding stage, which included two paths at about 3 thousand

meters high, rocky tracks and several river crossings, Carlos Sousa faced some several

ordeals, but he managed to get two places overall back to the top-10, despite thestrong flu that hindered him during the whole day.

It was an extremely difficult day. I had a rough night and woke up with the flu.

Despite the medication, I felt under the weather and never at 100 per cent, today of

all days that we had to face such a tough and demanding stage , affirmed the driver

of Team Great Wall Motors when he arrived to San Juan, after a distance of 499 km for

the cars, from which 208 corresponded to the third special stage of this Dakar 2012.

Despite everything, we didnt lose much time after all and I can only be glad that I

overcame one more day, on which he had another flat tire and were blocked formost of the stage by the Argentinian driver from Toyota, explained Carlos Sousa,

referring to Lucio Alvarezs poor sportsmanship, who he reached soon after the first 40

km of the stage.

We were being faster in track, but he decided not to let us pass When we finally

passed him after several attempts, we bumped into a rock and punctured the tire. At

the end, we reached him again but he blocked us once more. At the arrival he

excused himself by saying that he never saw me behind him Well, it was a pity,

because we were driving fast at the end and could have taken some good three

minutes to our final time, complained Carlos Sousa, who like yesterday, finished the
http://www.pressaporter.pt/


2/3

stage in the 11

thposition overall, losing 8m21s to the winner, the MINI from the

Spaniard Joan Roma.

The pace at the front of the race is very strong and the fight is pretty fierce, since

the first five positions are separated by a bit more than two minutes! Personally I

was counting on losing some time in these first stages, due to a lack of competitive

pace and a need to adapt myself to the car. The engine is very good, but there are

still some adjustments to be made to the suspension, because I still feel the carsrear end slipping Its something we will have correct during the next few days,

concluded the best Portuguese car driver, occupying the 9th place overall.

As for the other official driver of Team Great Wall Motors, the Chinese Zhou Yong, he is

passing up the order overall. After the initial problems he managed to be the 25th

fastest driver in todays stage in his HAVAL SUV.

Tomorrow, Wednesday, the drivers will face the longest stage from this edition in

Argentina, in a very demanding track in terms of navigation, which will connect San

Juan to Chilecito.

With a total of 750 km, the fourth stage of Dakar 2012 will include a special stage of

326 km filled with traps, which will therefore demand full concentration in the gear

shifts, especially when crossing the dry rivers and canyons in the province of La Roja.

According to the Organization, this stage can really be decisive to some favorite

drivers aspirations, and it is likely that some teams will accumulate a considerable

delay when arriving to.

STAGE 3

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

1st Roma/Prin MINI 2h26m51s

2nd Holowczyc/Fortin MINI + 1m09s

3rd Al-Attiyah/Cruz Hummer + 1m29s

4th De Villiers/Von Zitzewitz Toyota + 1m33s

5th Gordon/Campbell Hummer + 2m08s

()

11th SOUSA/GARCIN GREAT WALL + 8m21s

25th ZHOU/MAIMON GREAT WALL + 26m39s


3/3

OVERALL AFTER STAGE 2

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

1st Holowczyc/Fortin MINI 5h51m06s

2nd Gordon/Campbell Hummer + 54s

3rd De Villiers/Von Zitzewitz Toyota + 1m40s

4th Roma/Prin MINI + 1m50s

5th Peterhansel/Cottret MINI + 2m41s

()

9th SOUSA/GARCIN GREAT WALL + 21m46s

87th ZHOU/MAIMON GREAT WALL + 4h54m01s

press cs 3jan etapa3 dakar2012 - ing

Documents