X-RAID TEAM NEWS
DAKAR RALLY 2009 (January 3rd-January 18th, 2009)
Leg 13: La Rioja – Córdoba
Liaison, 357 km; special, 220 km; liaison, 48 km; total, 625 km.
For immediate release
Thursday, January 15th, 2008
X-RAID’S KUIPERS RECEIVED PENALTIES AND SLIPS TO 10TH PLACE
· X-raid Russia’s Novitskiy in ninth; Chicherit slips to 11th
CÓRDOBA (Argentina): X-raid’s Sails Capital Racing Team’s René Kuipers received a two-hour penalty at the bivouac in La Rioja, along with other drivers who had failed to complete the special stage by the time event officials decided to stop the section in the sand dunes at the 175km point.
The penalty was added to the time of the slowest competitor and Kuipers retained his place in the top 10, but slipped from a potential seventh to 10th overall.
Team mate Leonid Novitskiy fell to ninth position, when Spaniard Joan ‘Nani’ Roma was re-instated in sixth position with similar penalties to Kuipers, and Guerlain Chicherit slipped out of the top 10 into 11th place, as teams tackled an extended liaison of 357km before starting the penultimate stage between La Rioja and Cordoba on Friday afternoon.
Overall positions after leg 13 (leg 11 cancelled):
1. Giniel de Villiers (ZA)/Dirk von Zitzevitz (D) Volkswagen Race Touareg (T1.2) 43h 46m 58s
2. Mark Miller (USA)/Ralph Pitchford (ZA) Volkswagen Race Touareg (T1.2) 43h 49m 33s
3. Robbie Gordon (USA)/Andy Grider (USA) Hummer (Open 1) 45h 05m 50s
4. Ivar Erik Tollefsen (N)/Quin Evans (GB) Nissan Navara (T1.2) 49h 35m 19s
5. Krzysztof Holowczyc (PL)/Jean-Marc Fortin (B) Nissan Navara (T1.2) 46h 30m 40s
6. Joan ‘Nani’ Roma (E)/Lucas Cruz Senra (E) Mitsubishi Racing Lancer 51h 28m 34s
7. Dieter Depping (D)/Timo Gottschalk (D) Volkswagen Race Touareg (T1.2) 52h 20m 21s
8. Miroslav Zapletal (CZ)/Tomas Ourednicek (CZ) Mitsubishi L200 (T1.2) 54h 36m 34s
9. Leonid Novitskiy (RUS)/Oleg Tyupenkin (RUS) BMW X3 CC (T1.2) 57h 06m 04s
10. René Kuipers (NL)/Filipe Palmeiro (P) BMW X3 CC (T1.2) 58h 19m 14s
11. Guerlain Chicherit (F)/Matthieu Baumel (F) BMW X3 CC (T1.2) 58h 42m 58s
Ends
Further information and photos are available at www.x-raid.de or contact Yvette Theisen at X-raid GmbH, Tel: + 49 (0) 6147 204670, E-mail: y.theisen@x-raid.de.